Life After Death and Everything Else
by Salemsoriginal99
Summary: Sequel to Drift. Draco's come back after eleven years of being completely absent and he's now stepping up to take a bigger role in the life of the girl he left behind. But the past has a funny way of coming back to haunt you...
1. My Fair Weasley

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of J.K. Rowling's characters/plots/places. I just own my original plot and characters. **

_A man cannot free himself from the past more easily than he can from his own body._ **-André Maurois**

* * *

_To my Little Weasel,_

_There are many things I'd like to say to you that I have never had the courage to say. I've spent a lifetime telling myself that even when I was with you, I could never love you the way that you wanted me to..._

_Now that I'm dead, there are several things I need to tell you that I never could have..._

_Our daughter, Laurie, is the best thing that ever happened to me, not only because she's mine, but because I was able to see her grow up outside of the world I was raised in. I'm sorry I was never there as often as I should have been._

_You... I never could understand my obsession in you... I was forced to submit to you even after we were married and that was something I never wanted to do. Power was the only thing I had complete control over and you took that away from me the moment our lips touched. I let myself become controlled by you... I allowed myself to need you in a way that I've never needed anything else and I allowed myself to love you against my better judgment. For that, I'm sorry. I would have killed you myself if I had known how bad things would have gotten._

_Now for some confessions..._

_In my life, I've killed three hundred and ninety-two people. Whether or not they deserved to be killed is left to interpretation. I have deflowered two hundred and sixty-seven girls and women, but I have never raped one of them. You are the only one who has had the misfortune to raise my child. I have ruined the lives of seven hundred and two people through blackmail, extortion, murder, and other forms of less than legal status. I have never been found guilty of any of my crimes._

_Now... I sit here, waiting for death to finally release me from the hate, the guilt and the pain that has built up in side of me since I was five..._

_Ginny._

_I never wanted to love you. I never wanted you to have my child. I never wanted the last words that came out of my mouth to be 'I love you.'_

_But I do. And you did. And they were._

_So, as things begin to dim and my life finally comes to a merciful end, I only ask for one thing._

_Not that you love me... but that you forgive me._

_Draco_

Draco Malfoy folded the letter up and tucked it in his pocket, glancing to his side at Severus Snape, who had been watching him carefully the entire time he had read the letter silently to himself. Severus gave him a weird look before turning to talk to Dumbledore.

Draco sighed and turned to the breakfast in front of him while the teachers around him chattered idly. In front of them, students moved in and out of the Great Hall, talking loudly about their schedules and Quiddich as well as their summers. He scanned the Hall quickly and caught sight of two girls coming in, both smiling and attracting a lot of attention from the male population.

One of them was tall, beautiful and looked nothing like her shorter, pretty counterpart. The older one's long curly auburn hair clashed with the younger one's extremely short blonde hair as well as the differences in eyes. The older one had laughing bright blue eyes while the younger one had stormy grey eyes that somehow managed to be happy and intimidating at the same time.

Rayne Malfoy-Weasley and Reilly Weasley.

Rayne led Reilly to a group of Gryffindors sitting in the middle of the table and they sat down, talking with all of them. Reilly would occasionally glance up at Draco, but she kept the glances short and in very little supply.

Her attendance at the school was already driving suspicion within the student body due to her uncanny resemblance to the new DADA teacher. She knew better than to draw even more attention to their previous arrangement…

_"You know anything about curses, Weasley?" he asked._

_"A little," she stuttered, startled by the way he had used her last name._

_Draco looked up into her bright grey eyes before he stood up. She stood up as well, waiting for him to speak. He wrote down something on a piece of parchment and handed it to her._

_"Since it's your first year, I'm not legally permitted to teach you anything good, but come by after dinner twice a week."_

_"Why?"_

_His eyes met hers._

_"So big brother can teach you how to defend yourself."_

"She's going to have an interesting road ahead of her, Draco."

The young man turned to see that Minerva McGonagall also had her eyes on the little girl. He shrugged and returned to his food.

"I suppose…"

McGonagall glanced over at Draco before standing up.

"I hope you don't plan on leaving her like you did her mother," she said before walking away.

Draco watched her leave before glancing over at Reilly again.

She was laughing with Rayne and the others around her about something. He shifted his gaze over to the Slytherin table and could instantly see hatred in some of the eyes of several of the students. Students who had been told by their parents about what Draco had done eleven years ago… students who would not stop until something was done to correct that mistake…

No…

He would not leave her like he did her mother…

Not yet anyway…

**A/N: I KNOW! I woke up this morning and I thought, holy crap! I've got to start a sequel, so I wrote this quickly and decided to put it online so that you all would know that I'm at least starting. Please don't expect thorough updates though. My first priority is ****Be My Escape****, because I did say I would finish that first. So please be patient. It may be a week or even more between updates. I'll do my best.**

**Enjoy!**


	2. An Introduction to Hogwarts

_It takes a village to raise a child._ **-African proverb**

* * *

"Come on, Nick. He's not going to bite you," Rayne said as she dragged her boyfriend, Slytherin Head Boy Nicholas Kane, down the corridors of Hogwarts towards the DADA classroom.

Class did not start for another half hour for the excited Gryffindor, but Rayne wanted to talk to Draco about her boyfriend as well as prepare the professor in case she and Kane were spotted together any time during the year in an uncompromising situation. She had no interest in getting Nicholas cursed for trying to 'defile Draco's little girl'.

"It's not his bite I'm worried about, Rayne," he muttered under his breath.

Rayne smiled at him. She reached back and ruffled up his wild black hair, one of the many traits that she loved about him. He was a very attractive tall young man with beautiful chocolate eyes and a wonderful sense of humor that rivaled her uncle Ron's.

Nicholas shrugged her off.

"I hate it when you do that," he mumbled. Rayne turned so that he walked right into her. His arms wrapped around her waist to keep both of them from falling over and she leaned in quickly to capture his lips in hers. She ran her hands through his hair and he groaned, pulling her closer, trying to deepen the kiss.

Grinning, she pulled away to look into his eyes.

"You don't hate it when I do that," she whispered before she continued down the hall. Nicholas muttered under his breath about her and she laughed. "You love me!"

"Yeah, but you don't always have to be right," he grumbled.

"You weren't like that when we first got together," she said over her shoulder as he moved to catch up with her. Nicholas snorted.

"Yes, well, I'd forgotten that Hermione Weasley was your aunt when we first got together," he said.

Rayne smiled, remembering the circumstances as to how they got together…

Last year was the first year she had actually started dating and after a disastrous date with a Ravenclaw boy at Hogsmeade, she had run, enraged, humiliated and ranting, into Nicholas and three of his Slytherin friends. Any other time she would have been intimidated by the four young men, but that day she had actually been the one to intimidate them. Nicholas had made a comment about how appealing Rayne looked when she was angry and she had attacked him.

Quite literally.

She had launched herself on to him, oblivious to the wand in her pocket.

Needless to say, the Slytherin's very quick thinking and extremely soft lips saved him from much head damage that day.

"Have I told you that I'm sorry about hitting you?" she asked as he grabbed hold of her hand to slow her down. He leaned in and kissed her neck quickly.

"Yeah, but it's nice to hear it again. My arm still hurts a little," he muttered. Rayne blushed at the intimate gesture, but said nothing as they approached the DADA room.

Nicholas frowned and stopped at the door.

"Look… I think this is something between you and Professor Malfoy," he muttered. "I've got a class to get to anyway and I don't think Snape's going to care if I mentioned that his niece is explaining my relationship with her to her very scary, very dangerous brother… father… person…"

Rayne sighed but nodded, understanding his unwillingness. She gave him a quick kiss which he received whole heartedly until she had to remind him whose classroom they were kissing in front of. Nicholas sighed, gave her a peck on the cheek and left. Rayne went into the classroom, looked around the dark room and smiled.

"Draco! Draco!"

"It's Professor Malfoy, you little bint," Draco snapped, coming down from the office, turning his gaze on the grinning young woman in the Gryffindor robes.

Rayne rolled her eyes and walked over to him.

"You know, you're just as unpleasant in person as you are on paper," she said.

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"Am I?" he asked lazily, sitting down at the desk in the front of the room and placing his feet on the desk. "I never noticed."

Rayne sat down on his desk and looked over him carefully.

"The robes look good on you," she said. "I was talking to Uncle Blaise and he said you took forever to pick them out, you big diva."

Draco rolled his eyes, leaning back in his chair so that he could look at her better.

"Blaise can go to hell," he muttered.

Rayne grinned.

"Funny, he told me to send you similar regards," she quipped. Draco glanced at the clock before looking back at Rayne.

"Your Charms class starts in twenty minutes, did you come here for a chat or did you want to talk to me about Nicholas Kane?" he asked lazily.

Rayne nearly fell off the desk as her face went completely red.

"You know?"

Though she had kept in constant contact with Draco over the past eleven years, she had purposefully left out boys from any topic that had come up in his letters or hers. Not that she had had any problems with them.

She just had no interest in bringing up men around a man who had permanently hospitalized a man who had shown too much interest in Rayne during Ginny's pregnant days.

Draco sighed.

"Out of the list of Slytherins I told you not to mess with, I knew Kane was the only one you would actually snog anyway," he muttered.

Rayne poked him in the chest.

"You're a nasty little hypocrite," she said.

Draco smirked.

"I'll remember that the next time I grade your paper," he said.

Rayne made a face, but it was easy to tell that she was happy to be around him. It had been a long time since they'd seen each other, so she had been so happy when she found out he would be working at Hogwarts.

"Well… since you already know about him… I just wanted to warn you… in case you know…" Her face went red again and Draco rolled his eyes.

"In case I catch you two snogging behind a suit of armor?"

Rayne shrugged.

"Or something… of that nature," she muttered. Draco visibly stiffened at the comment and she saw a brief glint of anger surface in his cold grey eyes.

"You two haven't slept together have you?"

Rayne's eyes bugged and she quickly shook her head, her flaming curly hair bouncing obnoxiously around her face. A characteristic of hers he would never like.

"No! No," she snapped. "_He wouldn't_," she added quickly. "He knows _enough_ about my situation with you to know that touching me in any inappropriate way would get him a quick ticket to a very painful death."

Draco relaxed a little, snorting.

"Well, as long as he knows that," he muttered under his breath.

Rayne smiled, recognizing the aggressive protectiveness that she had seen countless occasions eleven years ago. She had a good feeling as to why it was starting to resurface.

"So… have you talked to Reilly yet?" she asked as casually as possible.

He noticeably stiffened. Something he did not do often, if at all.

He was quiet for a while, his eyes hardening with the past and his hands curling into tight fists with the emotions of the present.

"I'm going to be giving her private lessons twice a week," he whispered.

"Is that legal?"

He shook his head slowly, still staring at the desk.

"Does Ginny have a problem with it?"

Draco's eyes flitted to her dangerously before landing on the clock.

"If Weasley has a problem with it then she can come over here and talk to me about it," he growled, standing up.

Rayne held back a smile, standing up as well.

"If Ginny comes over here, I doubt Reilly will be the first thing you two will be talking about… if you talk at all-"

She shot out of the classroom laughing just as frightened third years began entering the class. They all ducked when a jet of red light shot after her, striking the floor behind her and causing it to explode. Rayne turned around and stuck her tongue out at Draco before she disappeared around the corner while the students cowered behind desks.

Draco smirked at them, tucking his wand back into his robe pocket.

"Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts," he drawled. "_That_ was an example of what will happen to you if you get an answer wrong in my classroom. _Now_… let's get started."

* * *

By the time Reilly had reached her Transfiguration class, she was the last to arrive. Everyone else had already picked a seat around the large room and the only seat was up front.

Biting her lip, she hitched up her bag and moved quickly to the front, avoiding the obvious gaze that started at her face and ended at her hair… or lack there of…

She stopped at the side of the last desk and pointed to the seat beside a Slytherin boy who was looking through his book with unusual interest.

"Is anyone sitting there?" she asked softly. The boy looked up and she could not help but hesitate at his coal black eyes coupled with his already pitch black hair. She was about to look around and see if she'd missed another seat, but the boy replied.

"No… there's no one sitting here," he said, looking her over quickly, his eyes pausing at her hair before he returned to his book.

The moment she sat down she could instantly hear people murmuring behind her, especially from the Gryffindor side. She tried to ignore it as she pulled out her textbook, notebook and quill. She glanced around and spotted the clock.

_Great… ten more minutes of people commenting on my bloody hair_, she thought darkly to herself.

At least nothing bad had happened. Her first day of school was actually going pretty well, though she had been dying to talk to Draco again. She knew he did not like her, but she liked the talk they had had the night before.

"What happened to your hair?"

Reilly jerked and looked to her side to see that the boy beside her was staring at her. Once again his black eyes unnerved her, but this time she decided not to shy away. She shrugged and looked down at her book.

"My uncles," she muttered.

"They barbers?"

She shook her head.

"No. Pranksters. Don't you get the joke?" she asked sarcastically.

The boy smirked at her and looked down at his book as well.

"Har, har," he muttered. "Actually I think it looks cool."

Reilly blushed as she ran her hands over her hair, which rose just shy of a centimeter above her head.

"Thanks…"

"Your welcome."

Reilly tried to hide her smile as she glanced over at him.

"I'm Reilly Weasley. What's your name?"

He glanced over at her.

"Landon," he told her.

"Do you have a last name?"

He shook his head.

"No. My mother didn't think it was worth the time," he said. "Besides, when you're just as popular as I am, you don't need a last name."

Reilly did smile that time.

"I saw how popular you were when you were the only one with an empty seat beside them," she whispered.

Landon glanced up at her and smirked.

"Nice," he muttered. He was about to say something else when a wadded piece of parchment struck him in the back of the head. They both turned around to see a couple of large Slytherin first years glare at the two.

"Fraternizing with the enemy already, Greyback?" the larger of the two asked. "Quite frankly, I wouldn't want to be friends with someone who shares chromosomes with Weasleys _and_ Malfoys."

Reilly went red instantly and turned back around, glaring down at books.

Her mother had warned her about this and she had ignored it as just a mother's worry, but it wasn't until now that she realized how her relation to not only the Weasleys but her unfortunate Malfoy side. She only hoped that this was as bad as it got.

"Well, it's better than sharing chromosomes with, who is it? Faigan, the prick who's soul got sucked out?" Landon shot back angrily.

The large boy stood up, fists curled and jaw clenched.

"Mr. Faigan, sit down now before I send you down to Mr. Filch's office. Not a great start to the year."

They all turned to see Professor Minerva McGonagall come walking down the isle and to the front of the room. The boy sat down immediately and Reilly bit her lip, glancing over at Landon quickly before focusing her attention on her professor.

McGonagall's eyes fell on the very much embarrassed Reilly briefly before she turned to face the class.

"Now… How many of you think you know how to turn your animals into a goblet?"

* * *

Dumbledore looked up to see Severus Snape walk into his office.

"Ah Severus, how are you?" he asked as the man sat down in front of his desk.

Severus looked around the room before he spoke.

"I need to know how you are going to handle this situation," he said coolly.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled behind his moon-shaped glasses.

"Draco and Reilly?"

Severus nodded.

"We both know that Draco has not gotten over what happened eleven years ago and I have a feeling his… _opinion_ of both her and her mother hasn't changed much since. We don't need any more problems, especially with the whole Greyback thing."

Dumbledore nodded.

"I understand Severus, but I would like to hope that Draco has changed in the past _eleven_ years… I know his relationship with Reilly will never be _perfect_ but I hope he knows that the best thing for all of us is if he makes an effort to be more than just a teacher to her. I think Ginny would agree with that statement," he said before shifting in his seat. "As for Greyback, we are keeping a close eye on Landon for any signs of change in his demeanor. As for his father, he hasn't made any contact with Ginny or the Weasleys since August. I do not want to agitate Draco with this information. He already knows about Landon. He doesn't need to know about anything else."

Severus frowned.

He felt that Draco should know about what was going on with Greyback…

"Okay," Severus whispered before standing up and turning to leave.

"Oh and Severus," Dumbledore added, looking down at some letters on his desk.

"Yes."

"If you _do_ tell Draco about Fenrir, I would hope that you not make it sound worse than it is, for Ginny's sake. She's just moving on and bringing Draco back into her life is hard enough. If he starts getting involved with this, then things will really get complicated."

Severus nodded and left.

* * *

The moment class was over people stood up and left, excited for the days to come. Reilly was about to follow them out but McGonagall stopped her.

"Ms. Weasley, could you come over here for a moment?"

She glanced over at Landon, who caught the gaze before he picked up his books and left the classroom quickly. Reilly bit her lip and put her stuff down, moving over to McGonagall's desk.

"Yes Professor?"

McGonagall looked her over briskly.

"Hermione helped you a lot didn't she?" she asked.

Reilly blushed but remained silent. McGonagall smiled and pulled a small locket out of her drawer, holding it up to the light. It glittered in the morning sunshine and Reilly smiled.

"It's beautiful," she whispered.

"You're mother did this one," she said, handing it to the girl. "Don't tell Hermione this, but I think it was the best transfiguration from a snake to locket I've ever seen."

Reilly grinned and took the locket.

"Thank you," she said. McGonagall noticed the girl hesitate and frowned.

"Is something wrong?"

Reilly bit her lip and looked up at the professor.

"Um… did you teach Professor Malfoy?" she asked, not sure if she should be using his name in front of another professor.

McGonagall could not help but smile at the girl's innocent curiosity. She had expected that the girl would ask some questions over the next few months so it came to no surprise that her first question would be about the man who would have been her father.

"Yes I did… he was a very good student when he tried," she added.

Reilly nodded and smiled.

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall," she whispered.

McGonagall nodded.

"Your welcome, Reilly. Make sure to tell your mother that I said hello the next time you write her," she said.

Reilly nodded, collected her stuff and walked out the door, eyes on the beautiful locket.

"You're not that popular, are you?"

Reilly stumbled over herself, tripped and fell to the ground. Her books went flying everywhere as she lay sprawled on the ground.

"Not too coordinated either."

She looked up and saw Landon standing by the door, trying to hide a smile as he moved over to help her with her books. She shot him a nasty look.

"I could say the same about you," she snapped, getting up on her knees to pick up her books. "Do you need something?"

Landon handed her the rest of the books and watched as she placed them all in her bag.

"No. I was just wondering if I could get the names of your twin uncles," he said, running a hand through his wild hair. "I need a haircut."

Reilly couldn't stop the laugh that escaped her lips as she hitched up her bag on one shoulder. Landon looked down and picked up her dropped locket.

"Here," he said, giving it to her. Reilly thanked him and shoved it in her pocket. She then looked up at him.

"So… what _are_ you doing here?"

"I'd like to know the same thing."

The two eleven year olds turned to see Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape walking down the hall, their black robes billowing behind them in the typical sinister way. Reilly lowered her eyes and groaned inwardly.

_How much embarrassment did she have to go through on her first day of school?_

Draco and Snape stopped in front of the two, eyes moving over Landon quickly and with cold eyes.

"Sir, I think your next class is about to start," Snape said.

Landon glanced over at Reilly.

"My next class is with you, Professor Snape, so I think I can manage," he replied quickly.

Reilly kept herself from laughing too loudly, but could not stop the giggle that escaped her mouth. Her eyes bulged and her face went completely red. Draco smirked at the boy's guts while Snape just sneered.

"How about you go down there anyway and I think I can manage _not_ giving you detention," he responded.

Landon glanced over at Reilly one last time before striding off down the hall like a natural Slytherin. Reilly bit her lip and looked up at Draco and Snape.

"Um… I was just heading to my class," she mumbled before heading off towards the dungeons as well, her face completely red.

Draco sighed and Snape smirked.

"Those Weasley girls can't keep their hands off Slytherins, can they?" the Potions Master commented as they began walking down the hall towards the dungeons. Draco said something offensive before he rolled his eyes.

"It had to be Greyback," he muttered. "You're sure he's safe?"

Snape shrugged.

"He hasn't shown any signs of aggression… yet…" he added before his grin widened. "But since he's found an interest, perhaps he'll be showing some territorial aggression."

"He's eleven years old."

Snape snorted.

"Right, we'll wait until he's thirteen before he starts killing people," he muttered.

Draco shook his head.

"I don't know about you, but I was _fifteen_ when I used the killing curse, not thirteen," he corrected. Snape rolled his eyes at the young man.

"Oh I'm sorry, I'll make sure I correct myself the next time I start talking about you," he said.

Draco sighed, running a hand through his hair as he stopped at the stairs.

"Greyback… he's nothing like his father is he?"

"No… not that it matters. Fenrir has been spotted all over England in the past few years, though he hasn't done anything yet," Snape told him. "Landon doesn't contact him as far as I'm concerned, but Fenrir has certainly tried to contact his son. Left several _gifts_ at his house over the summer and wrote him a letter right before the boy came here."

"You think he's going to try something?"

Snape raised an eyebrow.

"If he does, it will be with you, Draco. He wasn't involved with what happened eleven years ago, but ever since you left he's been harassing the Weasleys from afar."

Draco stiffened at the news but started walking again.

"Afar?"

"Dead animals at the front door, inappropriate gifts at Christmas for Rayne and Reilly, letters… little things," Snape responded. "I think he's been buying his time until you came back."

"What the hell does he want with me?" Draco growled. "He wanted Lucius dead so I did him a favor."

"_No_, he wanted the _Malfoys_ dead," Snape corrected. "He just figured that no one would bother having _your_ child so he wouldn't risk his time, and most likely his life, with you-"

"Now I remember why I left," Draco cut in, shooting a murderous look over at Snape, which the older man ignored completely.

"No one expected Ginerva Weasley to have Lucius Malfoy's _child_," he finished.

"Then what the hell is he waiting for? Why not kill her earlier?" Draco asked heatedly.

"You make it sound as if you wouldn't have cared."

"I wouldn't have," Draco hissed. "I think you'll be the first to agree that I wanted that child dead."

"I hate it when things don't go according to plan," Snape muttered. "It just ruins my day."

"If you're going to be sarcastic about this-"

Snape shook his head.

"No, I agree. Why wait until Lucius's _son_ is back in England to kill off his _sister_ and make him the only living Malfoy left? Why indeed? Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that his son could possibly become just like him and _kill_ said sister easily?"

"You know, that sarcasm of yours really isn't appealing," Draco pointed out darkly.

"You're one to talk."

"And I'd appreciate if you didn't call her my _sister_," Draco added irritably. "Just because the same bastard who did my mother happened to rape Ginny doesn't make Reilly my sister."

Snape raised an eyebrow.

"I'm surprised you're talking about it so flippantly. Usually anyone who mentioned what your father did had their balls shoved down their throats," he commented.

"I'll still do it too if you keep bringing it up," Draco hissed before stopping in front of Snape's classroom where they could hear the students talking loudly from the inside. He took a deep calming breath before he spoke again, this time in a much more restrained tone. "Until I find out what Greyback's planning I don't want Reilly hanging out with his son."

Snape snorted as he opened his classroom door. The noise stopped immediately as he moved inside.

"So much for wanting her dead," he said lightly over his shoulder before disappearing into the classroom and slamming the door behind him.

Draco let out a frustrated growl before he headed up to Dumbledore's office. He needed to know exactly what was going on.

"What is it with you Weasleys," he muttered to himself, his mind traveling to the woman he had spent the past eleven years trying to _not_ think about.

**A/N: Like I said, I'm not going to be updating very frequently. I'm sort of doing this story out of order so I have chapters done that wont even come up for a month or two. This story sort of started out of order so I have an ending, I just have to figure out how to get there. Bear with me please! Hope you like this one! I know some things are a bit confusing, especially with Greyback, but I'll try to explain it more in the next chapter. **

**deedee4sho:** Well, I can't tell you what's going to happen, so you're just going to have to stick with me and see! :-)

**ronandmion4ever:** I'm looking forward to your super awesome reviews. I knew I had to use the letter to start out this story. It was just so important to the ending of the last story and to Draco's motives for this story as well that it would have been blasphamy for me not to put it in. (Is that how you spell blasphamy?)

**luckycharm9:** It should be interesting to see how it does form. I think Draco's still a little resistant to the whole idea of getting too close to Reilly, but we'll see.

**Dracoginnylover24:** Thank you!

**jenny:** I'm glad you're so excited. I'll try my best not to let you down!

**PhoenixTalons:** Yes, well, at the end of Drift everyone was like, "SEQUEL, SEQUEL, SEQUEL!" and I was like... "oh crap..." :-)

**tamara72:** I will promise you some Draco/Ginny time. I can't promise any snogging sessions or anything because I'm too tired to think about that stuff, but they will talk. It wouldn't be a D/G fic if all they did was talk about each other. As for the others, you will see them, but I'm not sure how much since Reilly and Rayne are also such an important part of this story. We'll see. Or I'll write and _you'll_ see.

**MeggyandHaku:** So much excitement! It's flattering! Thank you!

**Jazmin:** Well, I mean, I was just going through my reviews and I noticed that almost everyone was screaming for a sequel so I sighed and typed up the first chapter in like thirty minutes and then went click. _Then_ I said holy crap! I have to actually finish this... (You can see how enthusiastic I am) :-)

**Chapter Tease:**

_"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell Hermione?"_

_Ginny bit her lip and looked around the room. _

_"It's been eleven years, Ron," she whispered. "Eleven years… he was so different…"_


	3. To Early to Tell

_Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it._ **-George Santayana**

* * *

"You look rather calm."

Ginny Weasley looked up from her desk to see her brother, Ron, standing at her door. She smiled at him.

"Hey brother," she greeted. "What brings you here?"

Ron sat down in front of her desk and eyed her carefully.

"You don't seem too worried."

Now it was Ginny's turn to frown.

"Worried about what?"

"Draco Malfoy teaching at Hogwarts."

Ginny visibly stiffened and that was all the answer Ron needed to put the pieces together. His eyes widened and he leaned forward in his chair.

"Did he tell you himself or was Reilly smart enough to write to you about it?" he asked quickly.

Ginny shifted in her chair and looked back down at the files in front of her.

"He told me," she muttered.

"Ginny!"

She looked up.

"It's not like he came over to my flat," she snapped. "I saw him at the station and we talked…" She looked back down again, trying to control the wide range of emotions that were still raging inside of her after that encounter with him. Ron watched her carefully.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell Hermione?"

Ginny bit her lip and looked around the room.

"It's been _eleven years_, Ron," she whispered. "Eleven years… he was so different…"

Ron could see old emotions resurfacing in her eyes and it bothered him greatly. They had spent the past eleven years helping her get over Draco's departure and over the fact that that Reilly would always be Lucius Malfoy's daughter. Things had been hard and now that Ginny was finally moving on and getting married, Malfoy had to show up again and ruin everything.

"Did he tell you why he was taking the job?"

Ginny shrugged.

"He said something about wanting to teach her to defend herself…"

"Ginny!"

"What?"

"What do you mean _what_? Don't you see what could happen here?" Ron hissed.

Ginny slammed her hand down on the table furiously, glaring at her brother.

"Of course I can see what could happen, but I can also see what _can't_ happen here," she snapped. "She deserves the chance to know who he is and _he_ deserves to know who she is."

"He walked out on her, Ginny! He walked out on _you_! He doesn't _deserve_ anything," Ron retorted heatedly.

Ginny bristled.

"She's safe, Ron and you know it," she said. "You know he won't let anything happen to her and you know very well that Dumbledore has an eye on him. Draco's not the same person!"

Ron stood up and moved around the table to kneel down in front of his sister.

"Ginny, I know this is hard for you, but you have to be realistic about this," he said quickly. "You're getting married and Reilly's finally going to get a father. You let her get too close to Malfoy and he leaves again… It's not going to be good for either of you…"

Ginny bit her lip and looked away from her brother, trying to think through this. Ever since he had left the café she had been bombarded with past memories both good and bad. She wanted to believe that good could come out of this. That Draco had changed and that he would finally take an active part in the life of Reilly… She wanted to believe that… but even as Ron spoke, she could see the bad in Draco's reappearance.

What if he _did_ leave again?

Would Reilly be able to handle something like that?

Would _she_ be able to handle something like that _again_?

She took a shaky breath and looked back down at her brother.

"Ron… I know you don't like this… but could we at least see how it goes for a couple of months?" she asked. "Reilly _just_ found out about him and I don't want to yank her out of that situation right away. I want to give him a chance…"

Ron could see the desperation in her eyes and he yielded, nodding slowly.

"Fine… but if something goes wrong, you need to tell me," he replied. "We all love that girl and we're not about to let anything happen to her… even if it is Malfoy…"

Ginny nodded.

"Thank you, Ron," she whispered.

Ron nodded slowly and sighed again. Ginny bit her lip and decided to change the subject.

"So… how's Sara?" she asked. Ron knew what she was trying to do, but did not mind talking about his daughter anyway.

"She's doing fine," he replied. "She and Hermione are having a girl's day out. They're at Diagon Alley shopping, though Hermione's doing most of the shopping and Sara's just pointing and giggling."

Ginny smiled.

"Sounds like how you and Reilly were when she was three years old."

Ron grinned.

"Yes, well, Reilly always loved hanging out with the boys," he commented before looking down at his watch and standing up. "Look I have to go, but I'll come back later okay?"

Ginny nodded and he moved to the door before stopping.

"And Ginny… please tell me if something happens," he added, his eyes darkening a little. "I know Malfoy's not as bad as he used to be but… with everything that's been happening with Greyback recently… I don't want to take the chance of those two fighting and you, Reilly or Rayne getting in the middle of it… okay?"

Ginny nodded again.

"I will Ron. I promise," she whispered.

Ron took a deep breath, nodded and left her office, giving her a chance to think over her first meeting with Draco after eleven years…

_Draco smirked. _

"_I'm assuming she knows about Lucius," he remarked and after a moment, Ginny nodded. _

"_Yes, she does. I figured it'd be pointless to lie to her about it, especially since she's constantly surrounded by redheads…"_

"_Does she know about-"_

"_Up until last night she didn't," Ginny answered quickly, looking down at her hands. "Rayne sort of mentioned you and I had to tell her."_

"_Were you ever going to?" Draco asked coolly. _

_Ginny shrugged. _

"_Maybe… when she was older… but she handled it better than I thought, considering-"_

"_Jason," he interrupted knowingly, pointing to the engagement ring on her finger._

Ginny jerked at remembering that part and swore.

"Shit, I forgot," she muttered, standing up and gathering up her wand and purse. "The lunch!"

She disapparated, cursing herself for her forgetfulness.

* * *

Draco entered Dumbledore's office and sat down quickly in the seat across from the old Headmaster, who smiled upon seeing the young man.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day that you were standing in my office again," he said lightly.

The former Slytherin Head Boy frowned, his eyes darkening.

"I wanted to ask you about something, sir," he said.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"Sir? Draco, I think we moved past the pleasantries twelve years ago," the old man said.

Draco shifted in his chair impatiently.

"Albus, is it true that Greyback's been harassing the Weasleys?" he asked quickly.

Dumbledore sighed, removing his glasses and placing them on his desk.

"Draco, that started about two years ago when Ginny publicly announced that Rayne would be taking over her family business when she came of age."

Draco nodded.

"Rayne told me about that. The Trevorton thing with the Muggles," he said with a hint of disgust in his voice. "What does this have to do with Greyback?"

"It doesn't. It has everything to do with you and Reilly," Dumbledore said, sighing again. "I wanted to wait and see how things went between the two of you before I told you the real reason I asked you to take this job…"

"Greyback?"

Dumbledore nodded, putting his glasses back on.

"Fenrir is too much of a coward to go looking for you so he's been biding his time here in England somewhere, growing impatient as time has passed. I think the Trevorton deal pushed him over the edge so he started sending threats to Ginny and doing other things that clearly pointed to him. We've been able to handle it and in general Ginny just doesn't want to draw too much attention to it because she did not want to bring you back, but this August he started threatening Reilly so I decided that it would be a good idea to bring you back," the Headmaster explained.

"To deal with Greyback or with Reilly?" Draco asked carefully.

"Both."

Draco stiffened, looking around the office with obvious distaste.

"Greyback's son?"

"We've been monitoring him and so far he's exhibited no signs. When we found out who Landon was, we brought Remus Lupin in to consult and he's been working with the boy all summer. He's a good boy with no interest in following in his father's footsteps… sort of like you… Reilly seems to like him."

Draco's eyes darkened considerably and he straightened in his seat.

"Yes, well _that_ is going to change. I don't need Weasley coming up here raising hell if she found out I let her daughter hang around a potential werewolf," he grumbled.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled behind his glasses.

"I think she'll make an exception when someone brings up her record with you, Draco. Landon's potentially dangerous, but at least his danger is predictable. _You_ on the other hand… she didn't have much of a choice after a certain point."

Draco met the man's eyes briefly before standing up.

"I'd like to know more about what's going on with Greyback," he said, a cold mask falling over his perfect features. Dumbledore smiled.

"If you want that information, you're going to have to go through Ron Weasley… He's in charge of Ginny's werewolf problem," he said smoothly.

Draco's face contorted with disgust and he left quickly, muttering profanities under his breath about fools and giants.

* * *

Rayne looked up from her book to see Reilly come in with another girl. The girl with Reilly seemed to be extremely interested in something and Reilly didn't seem to mind. Rayne smiled as Reilly said goodbye to the girl and sat down beside her.

"What were you two talking about?"

Reilly shrugged.

"Quiddich. She's a third year and she wants to try out for the Quiddich team. I was telling her that you were on and that I'd talk to you about it," she said.

Rayne nodded, watching as Reilly took out her wand and began trying to turn her fruit into a bowl. Rayne smiled.

"I talked to Draco this morning."

The fruit was immediately forgotten and Reilly turned her full attention to Rayne.

"Really? What he say? Did he mention me? We talked last night, did I tell you?" she said excitedly. Rayne nodded.

"Yes you told me and _yes_ he did mention you. He told me about the private lessons," she said. Reilly grinned.

"He says he wants to teach his little sister how to defend herself," she said proudly. Rayne could tell that Draco's presence had a very big impact on her and it was nice to see that their first interaction had not been a complete disaster. She knew that Ginny had been worried about it.

"So you like him?" Rayne asked casually.

Reilly nodded.

"Yeah… I mean, I'm not stupid, I could tell he didn't really like me there, but… I mean, he was really nice about it…"

"Sarcastic?"

Reilly smiled and nodded.

"Very."

Rayne sighed and smiled as well.

"You get used to it," she said before she decided to switch gears. "Rumor is you've already got yourself a Slytherin friend. Would you like to tell me who he is?"

"What makes you think it's a he?" Reilly asked quickly.

Rayne grinned.

"Your bright red ears and half the student population," she quipped, turning to face Reilly. "Oh come on, who is it and has he asked you out yet?"

"Rayne! I'm eleven years old!" Reilly protested.

Rayne gave her a playful shove.

"Okay, okay, so there's no wedding in the future, but is he cute?"

Reilly's ears got even redder as the blood rushed to her face and warmed her cheeks. Rayne grinned.

"Ha! I knew it!" she said before frowning. "Wait… did he think you were a guy when he talked to you?"

"Rayne!"

Rayne covered her head when Reilly hit her with the book Rayne had been reading.

"Okay! Sorry!" she laughed. "So who is he?"

Reilly shrugged, pulling out her own books and opening one of them.

"Landon Greyback," she muttered nonchalantly.

"Landon? Hmm… Reilly Greyback- ow! Sorry! I'm just kidding!" Rayne said, laughing at Reilly's indignant look. "I know you just like him as a friend. That's how Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron got together. They were just friends, you know."

Reilly shook her head.

"But we're not even _friends_," she said. "I had to sit next to him because there were no other seats left in the class room!"

"_Okay_," Rayne said. "I'm pretty sure that was Aunt Hermione's excuse as well."

Reilly chucked her book at Rayne while Rayne continued laughing.

"That's not funny!" Reilly complained.

"Did he find your hair nice?"

At that question, Reilly blushed furiously and Rayne's eyes widened.

"He did! Wow, I like him already. Just make sure to send me the wedding invitation early. I have a lot of activities planned in the summer."

Reilly shot her sister a nasty look and refused to speak to her for the rest of the night while Rayne continued to read, humming cheerfully to herself the 'Wedding March'.

* * *

The next night, Draco was going over the rather rude letter Ronald Weasley had sent back to him after Draco had _delicately_ asked for the files on Greyback. The redhead had, in no uncertain terms, told Draco that if he wanted the files that he would have to come and get them. Weasley was not going to waste a perfectly good owl to send information about a problem he seemed to think Draco had caused.

Draco glanced over at his own owl, Judas. By all reasoning, the bird should have died a long time ago, but some how his will was just as strong as Draco's and his soul just as doomed.

Well… it seemed as if Weasley's opinion of his ex-brother-in-law had not changed over the past eleven years…

A hesitant knock at the door brought Draco out of his thoughts. He could guess who it was, but instead of frightening her with his assumptions, he waited until she knocked again.

"Come in."

Reilly stepped through the door and stood there for a moment, obviously uncertain on whether or not to come any closer. This made Draco smirk.

"I'm not going to kill you, Weasley," he said. "If I wanted you dead, I would have waited a little longer, eleven years ago."

The girl paled visibly but approached his desk nevertheless, biting her lip as she sat down in front of him. He observed her for a moment, noticing a few mannerisms that he had seen in Ginny several times in the early stages of their so called relationship.

"You seem nervous," he commented.

"You said this was illegal," she snapped back.

Draco raised an eyebrow and smirked, leaning forward in his chair and attracting her attention.

"Then why are you so nervous?" he asked. "To be quite honest, I'd be more nervous if this was _legal_."

Reilly faltered, but said nothing. Draco rolled his eyes and sighed.

"_Fine_," he muttered. "Let's start with something simple…"

"Like what?"

Draco looked her over quickly.

"What do you know about werewolves?"

Reilly frowned.

"Werewolves? I'm going to be fighting _werewolves_?" she asked incredulously.

Draco's mind flashed to the first day of school and the friendliness he had seen between Reilly and Landon.

"You never know."

**A/N: Okay, first things first, I was almost about to answer these reviews on my update for Be My Escape. It wasn't until I was done that I read over the chapter and was like... what the hell? This has nothing to do with Draco and Ginny... This is _Harry_ and Ginny... that's weird... Oh well. I'm back! I hope you all had a great Christmas (for those who celebrate it) and wish the rest of you a Happy Holidays and Wonderful New Year!**

**nextbestthing:** Don't worry! You're here now and that's what matters. Rayne is sixteen by the way.

**Unknown:** Definitely more!

**Kiah M.:** Well, I'm glad you're in love! Stay that way!

**jjp91:** I'm glad I could do that for you. I hate it when my readers are confused. It makes me feel guilty.

**MeggyandHaku:** Fenrir is from the actual books. He's a werewolf. I never really mentioned him in Drift so I thought I'd bring him up in this story.

**snowfire81:** Sorry you had to wait so long, but never fear, I will not make you wait that long for the foreseeable future!

**ronandmion4ever:** You want to know something, I did not realize that their names were similar until I started this story. Then I was like... oh... their names... they start with the same letter... wow... I'm strange... But then I was too lazy to change it and then I'd have to tell people that I changed it and that would take forever and I was like... yeah, whatever... so people will mess up their names.... what's the big deal? ;-) You picked some interesting alternatives though. I don't know what it is with those Weasley girls. It must be the girls bathroom water. :-) I don't know about boring though. Ron isn't that boring.

**tamara72:** I loved those scenes also. I think it will be a while until we see Ginny and Draco together again, but until then, we will be enjoying the company of the others that you mentioned. Do not worry.

**Chapter Tease: DUH!**

_"What did he do to you?" she asked heatedly. "Did he hit you?"_

_Reilly's face went red and she shook her head quickly, glancing over at the other girls who had also noticed the first year's black eye. _

_"Stop being so loud, Rayne," she snapped. "It's not that big of a deal. I just messed up that's all."_

_"He hit you!"_


	4. Show Them Who You Are

_Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You, too? Thought I was the only one."_ **-C.S. Lewis**

* * *

"What happened to you?" Rayne demanded as Reilly sat down the next day.

"Shh!" Reilly hissed, trying not to draw attention to the shiner she had on her left eye. "It's nothing."

Rayne's eyes grew and she immediately turned her gaze to the head table, her eyes searching for Draco, who was talking quietly with Snape. Her eyes narrowed before she turned back to Reilly.

"What did he do to you?" she asked heatedly. "Did he hit you?"

Reilly's face went red and she shook her head quickly, glancing over at the other girls who had also noticed the first year's black eye.

"Stop being so loud, Rayne," she snapped. "It's not that big of a deal. I just messed up that's all."

"He hit you!" Rayne yelped, drawing more attention to the situation, including the object of their attention, who found Rayne's protective reaction amusing. Reilly's eyes widened and she shook her head again.

"Rayne, shut up! No one hit me," she hissed. "I told you. I messed up… the…" She noticed a couple of people lean in near by to hear and she frowned, leaning in so that only Rayne could hear. "The curse Draco taught me backfired, is all. It was a lot worse, but he gave me something to stop the swelling. He didn't hit me."

Rayne's eyes widened.

"Oh… sorry," she muttered, before turning her gaze to her friends. "She misused one of my uncles' products."

"_Oh_," the girls gasped understandingly. Reilly shot the older girl a thankful glance before she turned to her breakfast. She would occasionally glance over at the head table, where Draco had gone back to his conversation with Snape, but she tried not to do so often.

"Post!" a Ravenclaw boy yelled and all heads went up to see a fleet of owls rain down from the ceiling, screeching and showering a few of them with feathers as they landed in front of their respective clients.

"Penny!" Reilly greeted as her mother's owl flew down and landed gracefully in front of them.

The thing had three letters in its mouth and it handed two of them to Reilly and Rayne before it got airborne and flew over to the head table, landing right in front of Draco.

Instantly, students nearby who had seen the exchange began whispering about the entire affair and speculating on how close Reilly and the DADA professor really were.

_Dear Reilly,_

_How is Hogwarts? Hopefully nothing interesting has happened yet, it's only been two days! I hope you're enjoying yourself and I hope you're professors aren't giving you a hard time… I've been thinking about you a lot and I love you so much and am so proud that you made it into Gryffindor! It is (obviously) the best House and you will have so much fun, but don't get into too much trouble. You know a few Gryffindors who have gotten themselves in more than enough trouble to last you three lifetimes and I do not need you to get yourself in the same mess we were in when we were in school. Be smart!_

_Reilly, I also wanted to write about something very important. By now, you have no doubt met Draco Malfoy. Hopefully he was not as rude to you as he was to me when I first met him. We never had time to really discuss him and I'm afraid that while you are at Hogwarts you will be subjected to __very__ different opinions of him. Please keep in mind that, though he did save my life and we did love each other, Draco Malfoy was not a kind person, especially not to the Gryffindors. I need you to remember that when you hear things about him because I'm afraid I might have given you the idea that he is like Uncle Ron, but he's not. _

_I know you will want to spend some time with him and I have no problem with that, as long as you are careful with what you say and what you do around him. He is a __very__ dangerous man and, unfortunately, has killed people. Though I do not think he will harm you, he may do and say something around you that are not appropriate and you need to be aware of that. Remember not to listen to every single thing he says. He has a way of twisting the truth to his own fortune. Also, please do not talk to him about Jason. Professor Malfoy and I have had a very close relationship and I would prefer it if you did not discuss Jason around him. I would also ask you not to tell him any of the things I have told you in this letter._

_I love you so much and I do not want you to get hurt by him, so please keep in mind what I have written down in this letter. I would hate for something to happen to you. But I also want you to enjoy your time at Hogwarts and if possible, with Professor Malfoy. I'm sure if he has the time to get to know you, he will care about you as much as he did me._

_Be careful!_

_All my love,_

_Ginny_

Reilly looked up from her letter to Rayne, who must have had a completely different letter because she was smiling.

"What did mum say?" Reilly asked quickly.

Rayne glanced over at her sister and shrugged.

"Just some stuff about watching my step around Draco," she said. "Ginny's just being a bit paranoid."

"Mum wants us to be safe," Reilly whispered.

Rayne snorted.

"Safe? If she wanted us to be safe, she'd be _encouraging_ us to spend time with Draco," she countered. "She just doesn't want us getting too close because if _we_ get too close, then _she'll_ have to get closer and that's something she doesn't want to do at the present moment."

"You think so?" Reilly asked.

Rayne nodded, glancing over at the head table. Reilly followed her gaze and saw Draco reading his own letter from Ginny. Apparently, his letter had been much more aggressive than the girls, because it became noticeably clear that he was getting agitated with what was written down. His eyes were darkening and his grip on the letter was tighter until he finished reading. He dropped the letter on the table and pulled out his wand. To the surprise of everyone at the table, the letter burst into flames and he stood up gracefully, his eyes moving to the two girls. He walked down from the table and walked right up to them, eyes cold as ice.

"Tell your mother she can bite me," he sneered before striding out, leaving behind dropped jaws and wide eyes.

* * *

Reilly decided to leave the Great Hall a little early so that she could get a good seat for her Defense Against the Dark Arts class. She was determined to show Draco that she was worth the patience, especially after last night's fiasco.

"What are you going to do, Wilson? Go crying to McGonagall?"

The question attracted Reilly away from her normal path and her curiosity brought her to an empty corridor where she spotted five boys. Four of them were crowding around a smaller boy, glaring at him as they held his books away from him. The small boy was a bit shorter than Reilly, with shaggy light brown hair and defiant hazel eyes. The ringleader, Faigan the Slytherin boy from her Transfiguration class, was taunting the Gryffindor.

"What's wrong with you? Cat got your tongue?" one of the other boys asked, giving the boy a push, causing him to fall back into the wall and hit his head hard against the stone.

"Hey! Leave him alone," Reilly shouted, running towards them. She shoved the boy who had pushed the small boy, placing herself in front of the fallen Gryffindor. "Leave him alone!"

Faigan glared at her.

"Go away, little girl," he snapped.

"Leave him alone! What'd he do to you?"

The closest boy snorted.

"It's more of his existence, really-"

"You're a prick," she snapped. "All of you are just giant pricks!"

Faigan advanced on her and she took a step back, bumping accidentally into the boy on the floor.

"And you're just a stupid little Gryffindor girl whose father was a Death Eater rapist!" he growled. "And you're related to that retard professor also!"

"That retard professor also happens to be who you have next, Mr. Faigan."

They all turned to see Draco Malfoy standing there, eyebrows raised as he assessed the situation quickly.

"School year's hardly started and you're already disobeying mummy's orders, Weasely," he commented before turning to the Slytherins. "If you have a problem with Malfoys, talk to _me_, not her. She's not a Malfoy and if you intend to finish the rest of this year _without_ an accident, I suggest you not mention my _father_ again. Understood?"

The four Slytherins nodded quickly, too scared and he pointed back to the way they all came from.

"Get out of here."

They left quickly, leaving Reilly and the other boy with the DADA professor. Reilly helped the boy to his feet before she glanced over at Draco watched the entire thing without saying a word.

"Mum says I shouldn't listen to everything you say," she told him as she handed the boy his books.

Draco snorted and turned on his heel.

"Like I said before, she can bite me," he said over his shoulder before he walked out of sight.

The Gryffindor boy glanced over at Reilly.

"You two are related right?" he asked timidly.

Reilly nodded.

"He's my brother," she replied, giving him his last book.

The boy nodded slowly, looking a bit disturbed by the information. He placed his books in his bag before offering her his hand.

"Thanks," he said.

Reilly smiled.

"No problem," she said. "I'm Reilly Weasley."

"Charlie Wilson," he replied as they started off down the hallway.

"Charlie? I have a Uncle who's name is Charlie," she said.

Charlie smiled.

"I know. I've heard about your family."

Reilly blushed and shrugged.

"We have a habit of being heard of," she said as they made it to Draco's classroom.

When she entered, she noticed that Draco was already there, sitting at his desk. Since class had not started, the students were still talking rather loudly, but eyeing the calm professor uncertainly. He was still dangerous territory and until they could gauge him, they were not about to approach him.

Ignoring once again the looks she was getting, Reilly led the way to the front, where Landon Greyback was already sitting, examining his DADA book. Reilly coughed and he looked up. His eyes darted over at Charlie, who looked a bit intimidated by the young Slytherin with the jet black eyes.

"I suppose I _am_ as popular as my mum says I am," he said.

Reilly glanced behind her and smiled.

"Landon, this is Charlie. Charlie, this is Landon. Landon's full of himself and Charlie was being picked on by Faigan," she said before sitting down.

Charlie sat down beside her, giving Landon a timid wave.

"Hi," he said.

Landon grinned.

"Did she force you to sit by her?" he asked.

Charlie shook his head and Landon laughed.

"Well, good luck. She's uncoordinated. She might poke your eye out with her wand," he said, making Charlie laugh as well while Reilly rolled her eyes at the two.

"Honestly," she muttered.

Draco, who had heard the entire conversation from his spot at the desk, smirked at the unbelievably uncanny resemblance the three had to a group he had long since abandoned in torturing.

This was going to be _fun_…

* * *

Hermione looked up from pouring tea when the doorbell rang. She glanced over at the woman at her table before she walked out of the kitchen and to the foyer. She opened the door and smiled.

"Ginny! We were just talking about you," she said, ushering the woman in.

Ginny frowned as she followed Hermione back to the kitchen.

"We?" she asked before she realized who was in the kitchen. Luna looked up from playing with Hermione's three year old daughter, Sara, and smiled.

"Hey, Ginny. Long time, no see."

"Luna! Oh my gosh, when did you get back?!" Ginny squealed, giving the woman a tight hug before sitting down at the kitchen table, setting down her purse and taking the woman's hands. "I thought Blaise wasn't coming back?"

Luna shrugged.

"He heard about Draco," she whispered and Ginny immediately became tense. Luna noticed and smiled knowingly. "You talked to him, didn't you?"

Hermione's eyes widened as she placed cups of steaming tea in front of them.

"You talked to Draco?" she asked quickly, picking up her daughter from Luna and placing her in her lap. "When?"

Ginny frowned.

"Ron didn't tell you?"

Hermione nearly dropped her cup of tea.

"Ron _knows_?"

"Oops…" Ginny muttered before sitting up straight and taking a sip from her cup. "Yeah… he knows… and yes, I did talk to Draco… but it was only briefly. He had to get to Hogwarts."

"He's teaching at Hogwarts?" Hermione asked again.

This time, Luna answered.

"Snape offered him the job over the summer," she said. They turned to her and she shrugged. "Blaise still stays in contact with him."

Hermione nodded slowly before turning to Ginny.

"Well? What happened? What did you two talk about?"

Ginny looked down at her cup and shrugged.

"We didn't talk about anything, really…"

Hermione let out a snort while she handed her daughter a piece of sandwich she had made earlier.

"You two haven't spoken to each other in eleven years and you have the nerve to tell me that you didn't talk about _anything_? Really Ginny?" Hermione asked incredulously.

The redhead let out a sigh.

"Well… I don't know! I was so confused… I haven't seen him in eleven years and all of a sudden he just appears out of no where at the platform, talking about how he was offered the job and-"

"Wait, he was at Platform 9 and ¾?" Hermione interrupted. "He was _there_ when you dropped Reilly off?"

Ginny nodded weakly.

"I didn't see him when he was there, but he showed up after the train had pulled off…" she whispered before closing her eyes and sighing. "He was… different… older…"

"It's been eleven years," Luna pointed out.

Ginny opened her eyes.

"Yeah, but… I guess I didn't expect him to be so different. He was… _polite_," she said. "We talked about Reilly… and Jason…"

"_Jason?_" Luna repeated, surprised by that topic.

Ginny shrugged.

"Apparently Rayne's been in contact with him as well…"

They watched her carefully before Luna spoke.

"So what are you going to do?"

Ginny frowned.

"What do you mean, what am I going to do?"

Luna shrugged.

"Are you going to restart things with him?"

"Luna!" Hermione snapped. "She's getting _married_!"

Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Right. Because Ginny's _always_ been in the habit of doing the _right thing_," she retorted.

"She's been doing the right thing for the past eleven years," Hermione replied.

"Draco wasn't _here_ for the past eleven years. He's back for a reason."

"Just because he's back for a reason doesn't mean that reason is going to be fulfilled by her. She knows better."

"Just like she knew better to get involved with him in the first place?"

Ginny raised her hand.

"I'm still here," she cut in, noticing how much of an impact Draco's return was having on all of them. "Look, you don't have to worry about Draco and I. I closed that book a long time ago and Jason and I _are_ getting married. I'm a bit more concerned about Reilly. She's so wrapped up in the idea that he's such a great person…"

"You told her that?" Luna asked, shocked.

Ginny shook her head.

"No… I told her about what happened between him and I… but I never got around to explaining what type of person Draco really is," she told them.

"Are you?" Hermione asked.

Ginny bit her lip.

"I don't know… I want them to have a chance to know each other…"

Hermione shook her head.

"Ginny, you know he doesn't want anything to do with her-"

"I know that," Ginny snapped. "I just… I want to believe that something good can come from this…"

Hermione frowned.

"Ginny, you of all people should know that nothing good comes out of dealing with Draco Malfoy," she said. "I mean, the last time you said you'd deal with it, you ended up pregnant with his father's baby."

A cold shiver went down Ginny's back at the thought of that, but she shoved those memories down.

"Well, I'm not going to let that happen again."

"The only reason it _did_ happen is because you _kissed_ him," Luna commented.

For some reason unknown to Hermione and Luna, a blush crept onto Ginny's face. Her mind flashed back to the café.

"_Oh Draco," Ginny gasped. "You found it."_

_The horse-shaped Life crystal Draco had given her eleven years ago twinkled as it rotated slowly on the thin gold chain. Draco handed it to her and she put it on, holding up the moving horse for a moment before she looked up at him._

"_Thank you, Draco," she whispered._

_He reached up and ran a hand down her face, watching as her eyes closed under the touch of his cool fingers. He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers slowly, taking his time with her. She tasted sweet and smelled like the same apples and cinnamon that he had fallen in love with. His body reacted to her seamlessly and he pulled her close, their bodies touching temporarily. He felt her shudder beneath him and smiled at her movements before pulling away._

"_I'm guessing Jason doesn't kiss you like that," he murmured, his lips brushing against hers. She shook her head._

"_I don't want him to…"_

Hermione observed her friend for a moment before gasping.

"Oh my God, Ginny, you _didn't?!_" she hissed. When Ginny's face only got redder and grew in discomfort, her eyes widened and she made a frustrated motion. "Ginny, you idiot! I cannot _believe_ you?"

Luna finally caught on and smiled.

"You kissed him?" she asked, a laugh threatening to spill out of her lips.

An indignant look came across Ginny's face as she tried to think of a way to divert the conversation from this very uncomfortable topic. However, her silence only affirmed the thoughts that were racing through her friends' minds.

"Ginny! How could you!? What were you thinking?" Hermione demanded, shocked by Ginny's behavior.

The redhead shrugged.

"I don't know! I don't know!" she snapped. "It just happened… he gave me this," she whispered, pulling the Life Crystal out from under her shirt.

Luna and Hermione's eyes grew to the size of saucers as they stared at the necklace. Sara reached out for it and to her immense glee the horse reared its head to her and stared at her.

"Ginny… he found it?" Hermione whispered.

Ginny nodded.

"Yeah… and he gave it to me and then… we just kissed… I don't know, I guess I wasn't thinking," she muttered.

"What was it like?" Luna asked.

"Luna!" Hermione snapped disapprovingly. "Of course she didn't like it because she's getting married to _Jason Conwell_!"

Luna rolled her eyes.

"Right, and I'm sure Ginny felt _absolutely nothing_ when she kissed her ex-husband," she replied pointedly.

Hermione glanced over at Ginny and frowned.

"Ginny, this is dangerous…" she said before hesitating. "Did… _did_ you like it?"

Ginny opened her mouth to say something before shutting it and frowning.

"I… We…" she stuttered before standing up and moving over to the sink. "It was a kiss, nothing more, nothing less."

Hermione set Sara down on the floor before standing up as well.

"I'm serious, Ginny. If you're starting to have feelings for Draco again-"

Ginny turned to face them.

"I _do not_ have feelings for Draco again," she said quickly. "It was just a kiss… that's all…"

Luna raised an eyebrow.

"For a woman so sure of herself, you're acting awfully defensive," she commented.

"I'm not defensive," Ginny snapped. "I just don't appreciate you two thinking that I'm weaker than I am. Draco and I are over. I'm marrying Jason and that's all."

"If it was over, you wouldn't have kissed him and you wouldn't be wearing that Crystal around your neck," Hermione responded, concern evident in her tone and face. "Ginny, if you're still in love with-"

"Hermione, I was not affected by the kiss, I am not defensive and I certainly _not_ still in love with Draco Malfoy," Ginny snapped before going back to the table and snatching up her purse. "Look, I've got to get back to work." She leaned in and gave Luna a quick kiss on the cheek before waving excitedly to Sara. "Bye, bye Sara! Be a good girl! I'll see you two later!"

With that, she was out the door.

Luna watched her go before turning to Sara, who was still waving at the kitchen door.

"Your godmother is in denial," she whispered.

Hermione frowned.

"Luna, this is serious," she said, sitting back down at the table. "What if she's falling in love with him again?"

Luna shrugged.

"Then she falls in love with him again. She's not _married_ yet, Hermione… besides, it's not like you can really fall _out_ of love with someone," she said. "You knew just as much as I did that Draco would come back eventually and you knew something would happen."

Hermione shook her head, picking Sara back up again.

"That's not the problem, Luna," she whispered. "If I had had it any other way, I would have had Draco stay… I would have liked to see Reilly with a father…"

Luna frowned.

"Then why are you so against it now?" she asked softly.

Hermione hesitated for a moment before she replied.

"Because Ginny is _just_ getting past it all and moving on… if something happens and Draco's responsible… who knows what it could do to her?"

* * *

"You know, the next time you decide to teach Reilly something, could you avoid letting her walk around with a black eye afterwards?" Rayne asked as she approached Draco after dinner.

He was standing at the edge of the lake, eyes watching the giant squid glide across the glittering water with mild interest.

His skin seemed to glow under the moon and his grey eyes were only that more intimidating.

Because of that, Rayne thanked God that she was not really Draco's daughter nor was she related to him in genetic way.

She thanked God that she wasn't haunted by that curse…

"Isn't there a curfew?" he replied coldly.

Rayne pulled her cloak tighter around herself and went up to stand beside him. They stood there for a moment in silence before Rayne turned to him.

"Why are you here?" she asked softly, watching for any sort of sign. Not to her surprise, he showed none.

"Why do you think I'm here?" he asked.

Rayne bit her lip, remembering everything that had happened at her first year at Hogwarts eleven years ago.

"Are you going to leave again?"

It was then that she realized how much time had really affected Draco…

She could see three hundred years in his unfeeling grey eyes… She could see the horrors of his childhood radiating from his placid skin…

He turned to face her, his eyes scanning her quickly before he looked up at the castle.

"What do you-"

"Draco, stop avoiding the question," she snapped angrily. She didn't know if she would be able to go through something like that again and she wanted to know ahead of time this time. The last time he left, she never got to say goodbye. "Are you going to leave again?"

He stared at her for a while before he turned back to the lake.

"I don't know…"

Rayne bit her lip.

"You like her, don't you? You like Reilly."

"I hate that girl," he hissed.

"She's your-"

"Father's child?" he cut in chillingly, shutting her up effectively. She did not know how to counter that.

"My, my, someone's grown a lot."

Rayne whirled around to see four men standing nearby, smirks on their equally intimidating faces. Her eyes widened and she grinned.

"Uncle Frederick!" she squealed before running over to Valance and hugging him tightly. He gave her a quick hug before nudging her in the direction of the other three. She hugged them as well. "What are you doing here?"

"We were going to ask Draco the same thing," Colin Rockwell replied, eyes on Draco, who still had not turned around. Rayne glanced over at the blonde man, biting her lip.

"Um… how long are you guys going to be here?" she asked, turning back to the men.

Blaise looked down at her before pointing behind him.

"You should go now," he said. "We need to talk to Draco."

Rayne sensed the tension mounting between the five men and decided that it was best to leave. She gave them all a kiss on the cheek before she hurried up the hill to Hogwarts and went inside.

Draco finally turned around to face them, eyebrows raised.

"Do you have a problem?"

Gregory Goyle snorted.

"Yeah, we got a huge problem. You're back," he responded.

"So are you," Draco said. "Should we go have tea?"

Rockwell approached his friend, eyes watching Draco's wand hand carefully. It had been eleven years since they had last seen Draco, but that did not in the least bit diminish the respect they had for him nor did it diminish how cautious they had to be around him. They knew he was still volatile, even after so much time to cool off. They knew he would still hurt them.

"What the hell are you doing, Draco?" he asked carefully.

Draco glanced over at Rockwell, knowing that all of them were on their guard.

"Why does everyone need to know what I'm doing?"

"Because Ginny Weasley's daughter is at this school and you happen to be teaching her curses not even _we_ knew until we were in sixth year," Blaise hissed.

Draco moved passed them, towards the woods.

"This has nothing to do with Reilly Weasley," he growled.

"Then why the hell are you here?" Goyle asked.

Draco was quiet for a moment before he turned to them.

"We've got one more problem."

"What's that?" Valance asked.

"Fenrir Greyback."

**A/N: Dun, dun, dun! Do not worry, things are going to get interesting. Not actiony interesting, but with the boys back in town, Ginny's nice, gift-wrapped little bubble is about to burst. **

**purplegabby123:** He wasn't too mean, but we'll see how their relationship evolves.

**Dracoginnylover24:** I'm glad you got that sorted. Draco and Ginny may need each other, but at the moment I think they're trying to convince themselves and others otherwise.

**nextbestthing:** I'll try to see if I can put in more action/romance parts, but it's going to be hard since Draco and Ginny won't go near each other, Reilly's a _bit_ too young to be getting involved with anybody, and not enough has happened for major action. I'll see what I can do, but don't get your hopes up. You'll have to wait a while before anything _really_ good happens (if anything good really happens).

**MeggyandHaku:** It is very much like him, but it's also like him to make everyone _believe_ that he's hit her.

**jenna:** You know, your review gave me a _very_ good idea. :-) As for him being caring, you might want to take that back. Draco has a way of surprising people.

**wrenbailey:** The relationship between Draco and Reilly is very scary. If he does see himself in her, he could do one of two things. Embrace it or kill her. Either way, it would be a bit scary.

**PhoenixTalons:** The relationships in this story have to be strong, or things could go to hell a lot quicker than we expected.

**snowfire81:** I don't know when Draco and Ginny will see each other. Not too soon, but then again, you never know.

**Sorry, no chapter tease.**


	5. Been There, Done That

_Arguments are often like melodramas -- they have a predictable beginning, middle, and end._ **-Gay Hendricks**

* * *

"Mr. Weasley?"

Ron looked up from the files he was going through to see Elaine, the Auror Department secretary, standing at his office door.

"Yes?"

She looked nervous about something and kept glancing over her shoulder at something out of his view.

"Um… there are some people here to see you," she said urgently.

Ron frowned.

"I'm not seeing anyone today, Elaine," he responded a bit irritably. He had told everyone, especially Moody that he was going to be leaving early that day to spend time with his wife and daughter. He did not want to be bothered.

The woman however, did not seem to care about Ron's personal mission to get out of work early. She continued to look over her shoulder.

"Sir, they really want to speak to you," she countered.

"I'm busy."

"It's about the letter Malfoy sent to you," she told him quickly.

Ron let out a frustrated sigh.

"Look, if it's Malfoy out there, tell him that if he wants the Greyback file, he can make an appointment. I'm not seeing him today," Ron muttered.

Elaine's eyes widened and she shook her head.

"Um, it's a _bit_ more complicated," she hissed, pointing behind her.

The redhead finally got up and moved to the door, where Elaine turned and pointed down the hall to where her desk was.

"Oh crap," Ron muttered, moving past the secretary to the front where four men were standing. "What is it with you people? One of you comes out of the ground and the rest of you have to pop up?"

Valance rolled his eyes.

"Don't talk to us about popping up," he replied. "You Weasleys have a habit of popping up everywhere as well."

"What the hell do you want?" Ron growled. "Or should I just arrest you for old times' sake?"

Blaise glanced around the department, well aware of how many people were also itching to arrest the four.

"We're here to collect a file."

Ron snorted rudely and shook his head, turning to walk back to his office.

"I don't think so."

"We're asking politely," Rockwell pointed out.

Ron laughed.

"Then I'm going to say this politely. Get out, please," he retorted.

"We'd like that file, Weasley," Goyle said. "It'd go very well for you if you gave it to us now."

"You know how much trouble you could get in for threatening an Auror?"

"You know how much trouble you could get in for not giving us the Greyback file?"

"Oh go to hell!" Ron snapped, rounding on the four of them. "Look, I don't give a rat's arse why Draco Malfoy's back here or why the hell he's back at Hogwarts. I don't care why _you_ four are here! The only thing I care about is my sister and I'll be damned if I let that prick get involved in her life again!"

Blaise glanced over at the other three before stepping forward.

"We can take care of Greyback."

Ron shook his head.

"_I'll_ take care of Greyback. You four can go tell Malfoy that I've changed my mind and I don't want him near this case," he hissed. "I don't want him near Ginny."

"What makes you think this is about Ginny?" Valance asked

Ron raised an eyebrow.

"I think we've passed the whole 'We're Slytherins and we think Ron Weasley's stupid' thing," he replied heatedly. "You four know just as much as I do that Draco Malfoy _did not_ just come back to England for some shallow foreplay with a prostitute or for revenge."

"I could use some shallow foreplay right about now."

They all turned to see Luna Zabini standing beside the frightened secretary, ignoring the shocked looks she was getting from everyone except her husband. She walked past the four up to Ron, a smile on her face.

"Blaise always likes to skip that part," she added.

Ron rolled his eyes.

"This is a cheap shot, Luna," he said.

Luna glanced behind her at the looming men.

"_Yes_, but you'd do it for me anyway," she replied. She grinned. "Hey Ron."

Ron allowed her to hug her, while keeping a close eye on the four, especially Blaise, who actually looked a bit peeved by Luna's appearance.

"Good to see you again. I thought he'd never let you out of the ground again," he said.

Luna laughed and shook her head.

"Well, when Draco surfaced, we decided to surface again as well. To be honest, I'm a bit worried about you. I heard you and Hermione got into a fight when she found out you'd been hiding Draco's reappearance from her," she told him.

Ron snorted, pulling away from her.

"His reappearance caught me off guard."

Luna glanced back at Blaise.

"Well, we think that his reappearance can help you get Greyback out of the picture," she whispered.

"You're endorsing this?" Ron asked incredulously.

Luna shook her head.

"_No_," she stressed. "I am… _concerned_. Personally, I, like everyone else related to Ginny, would have liked Draco to stay eleven years ago, but since he's back, I think it would be best to give him what he wants early on before he decides to go to Ginny and get what he wants himself. You know just as much as I do that it would not go well."

Ron looked over at Blaise, who had a smirk on his face.

"You've exchanged foreplay for lessons in manipulation," he said before looking down at Luna, who was trying to hide a smile herself. "Well done."

He disappeared into his office for a minute before reappearing with a large file in his hands. He stopped in front of Luna, but held the file out past her so that Goyle could grab it. Ron then leaned in to Luna's ear.

"You're pregnant again aren't you?"

Luna grinned and leaned back a little so that she could look into Ron's eyes.

"Three weeks. I'm planning on telling him when abortion is illegal," she murmured with a smile.

"You think that will stop him?"

Luna shrugged.

"No, but by the time he finds out, he'll have to kill me to kill this baby and I _really_ don't think he's going to try to kill me, since his seven year old boy looks like exactly like _his_ father," she whispered. "Except of course, he's a bit lighter… um… don't tell Ginny… about any of this…"

Ron snorted and turned to go back into his office.

"She's just as bad as you are," he said. Blaise grinned.

"Oh by the way, Weasley. Have you checked the Prophet this morning? It has some very candid shots of your sister and that so called prick," he said before they turned to leave.

Ron frowned and went into his office. He rummaged through the papers on his desk and grabbed the Daily Prophet, which he had completely ignored on his way in. Opening it to the front page, his eyes widened and a groan escaped his lips.

"Oh, _bloody hell_ Ginny," he muttered.

* * *

Ginny was at her wits end.

The letters she had received from Rayne and Reilly had not mentioned Draco Malfoy at all and it was getting to her for reasons she did not know. She didn't know why she wanted to hear about Draco, just that she did.

Biting her lip, she got up from her chair and began to pace her office floor.

Maybe something was wrong.

_No_, she thought. _If something was wrong Dumbledore would have told her about it._

And it was only Thursday.

Something serious couldn't have happened only four days after school had started… right?

Then why was she so nervous?

Perhaps it was Greyback.

Before the school year had started he had been relentless. He had sent her and Reilly threatening messages. Left dead animals outside of Rayne's window and given Ginny ever reason to fear going out at night.

But now…

He had not been a disturbance since Draco's arrival.

_It's only been four days_, she reminded her self. _He wouldn't do anything four days after Draco's arrival. He'd wait a while._

She stopped and closed her eyes.

Once again it boiled down to Draco.

What was it about that man that made the world go round? What was it about him that made _her_ world so difficult?

The conversation she had had with Hermione and Luna had only heightened her awareness of him. She was starting to dream about him again. She was thinking about him during work and even when she was having conversations with people.

And it was bothering her.

She had promised the others and herself that she would let Draco's presence at Hogwarts bother her, but just the mere thought of him was driving her crazy and she neither knew why nor did she want to know.

"Hey Gin."

She looked up from her pacing to see Jason Conwell standing at her door, watching her with a warming smile. She smiled back at him and walked over to him, hugging him tightly.

"Hey Jason, I didn't know you were coming over," she said as she pulled away from him. "My lunch break doesn't start for another hour."

Jason shrugged, giving her a peck on the cheek.

"I know, I just wanted to drop in and see how you were doing. Hermione said you've been a bit funny yesterday when she talked to you," he said, wrapping his arms firmly around her waist so that she was anchored to him.

She didn't mind.

Jason was summer to Draco's permanent and ever-stormy winter. Not that Draco could help it. Jason was loving, tender, patient and wonderful with the girls. He was intelligent, humble and _very_ handsome. Up until he started dating Ginny he was England's most eligible bachelor. Harry and Ron had been taken off the list years earlier when Ron's relationship with Hermione had gone public and Harry had moved out of the country.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly.

Ginny nodded, winding her arms around his neck.

"I'm fine. I'm just a bit preoccupied."

"With Malfoy."

It wasn't a question.

Ginny frowned.

"What about Malfoy?"

Jason rose up a copy of the Daily Prophet and Ginny nearly died right there in his arms. On the front page was a clear picture of Ginny and Draco talking at the muggle café the day she had dropped Rayne and Reilly off at Kings Cross. The two seemed to be having a very intimate conversation.

"Well, besides the fact that Draco Malfoy and his ex-wife are now the most interesting thing in the wizarding world since Harry defeated Voldemort," he replied coolly.

Ginny bit her lip.

"I… well…"

Ginny's uncertain reaction seemed to irritate him.

"Were you ever going to tell me about this?" Jason asked sternly and suddenly the good feeling Ginny had had was gone. She flinched at his tone and pulled away from him quickly, knowing that he was perturbed with her.

"Look, I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of it. We were just talking," she said, going behind her desk and sitting down at it.

Jason raised an eyebrow again and placed the copy on her desk, turning the page to the next photo. Ginny's eyes widened and her face went completely red.

"Just talking?"

Ginny opened her mouth to speak but before she could get a word in edgewise the door burst open and suddenly her room was filled with the heated voices of six angry brothers and two horrified parents.

* * *

"Ginny, what the hell is wrong with you?" Bill asked for the tenth time since they had arrived at the Burrow.

Ginny, in an attempt to prevent damage to herself and her office, had suggested they move it to the larger family home in hopes that her family would calm down on their way there. Apparently, her tactics only made them angrier.

"Nothing's wrong with me. Look, I don't understand why you are all upset? You all knew he'd come back!" she snapped before turning to Jason. "Well, not you, but that's not the point."

Jason snorted.

"No, the point is that you were snogging your ex in a muggle café!" he retorted.

Ginny shook her head.

"We were _not_ snogging. It was a harmless kiss between two people who have not seen each other in eleven years and if that bothers you then I'm sorry, but it happened!"

"That's it? That's all you can say? He's back, I kissed him, I'm sorry, let's move on?" Charlie asked skeptically.

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Oh for goodness sake! What do you want me to say? That Draco being back doesn't affect me? You want me to _lie_?"

"So the kiss did mean something?" Jason asked.

Ginny rounded on him, incensed.

"Of course it meant something! I haven't seen him for eleven years after we were married! He left me while I when I was in _labor_. I'd be an hypocritical _idiot_ to say it didn't mean something, but I'd be lying if I said that I'm going to run away to him because of it! I've moved on, Jason and so has he-"

"He's teaching at Hogwarts, Ginny," Ron pointed out. "_And_ he's interested in the whole Greyback thing."

Everyone froze and turned to look at Ron, who instantly wished he hadn't said a thing.

"What?"

Ron shifted a bit before sighing.

"I gave Malfoy the Greyback file," he said.

"Why?" Fred and George asked at the same time. Mr. Weasley frowned.

"Ron, why would you give Malfoy that information?"

Ron shook his head.

"I didn't tell Malfoy about Greyback, Snape and Dumbledore did. Malfoy wants to know more about it," he replied.

Bill snorted.

"Apparently he hasn't moved on."

Ginny shot a nasty look at her eldest brother.

"If he wants to hunt a werewolf, that's his problem. I never said a thing to him and I have no interest in getting involved. Besides, maybe with him on the case, something will finally be done about that bastard," she hissed.

"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley gasped, shocked by her daughter's language.

Ginny sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry about the whole Daily Prophet thing. I didn't know we were being followed. But if you all still think that after what happened eleven years ago that I'm still in love with Draco, then you're wrong," she whispered, glancing over at Jason. "I'm marrying you, not him. And that's it."

Her fiancée still looked extremely upset about the whole thing, which was to be expected, but she was not about to apologize twice for something she didn't feel she had to apologize for in the first place.

Draco would always be a very intimate part of her life, whether she wanted him to be or not. She wasn't about to stand up in front of her family and try to defend herself. She had spent eleven years doing that to the public.

She was done.

* * *

Draco made his way to Dumbledore's office, his mind went over every word that had been written in the file his people had procured from Ron Weasley.

Greyback, Fenir.

Murder, extortion, kidnapping, larceny and everything in between.

Of course, after what happened eleven years ago, Draco's alleged criminal record had skyrocketed way above many of those who had been in the war, including his father's and Bellatrix Lestrange. The key word being alleged.

Greyback, though more persuasive than Lucius Malfoy, was not fortunate enough or wealthy enough to afford a lawyer that could get him of on all of his charges.

_He's still an arse_, he thought as he moved past a few students who immediately stopped talking when they caught sight of the well-known demon with blonde hair.

He ignored them as he delved back into the file.

Ever since Rayne's announcement to take up her family's business, he'd been seen only three times, but his harassment of Ginny and her two girls had been relentless, but a bit juvenile, if he was going to be honest.

Dead animals.

Threatening messages.

Greyback was better than that.

Much better than that.

Draco had spent too much time in that man's presence to know any different. Greyback was waiting for something and it was only a matter of time before Draco find out why.

He uttered the password to Dumbledore's office before climbing the stairs and entering quietly.

"Oh blood hell," he groaned upon seeing who was in the room besides Dumbledore and Snape.

Ginny's brothers stood up from their seats and turned to face Draco, faces almost as unreadable as his own. Dumbledore stood up from his seat as well.

"Professor, if you don't mind, this is rather important."

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"If this is about the Daily Prophet, then I have nothing to say," he told them before turning to leave.

"So you've read the papers?"

Draco rolled his eyes and turned back to face the Weasley brothers.

"Yes, Weasley, I read the papers," he said. "Apparently so do you. What's the problem?"

Percy frowned.

"The problem is that Ginny's getting married and now everyone thinks she's having an affair with her ex-husband," he snapped.

Draco snorted.

"Tell your sister congratulations and tell everyone else to mind their own damn business," he hissed before walking towards the door.

"As long as you stay the hell away from Ginny," Bill snarled.

"That won't be a problem as long as you can keep her away from me," Draco said over his shoulder.

Fred and George made a move towards him, but Bill and Charlie grabbed them by the arm.

"This isn't funny Draco. I don't care what you do to Greyback, but stay away from Ginny."

The blonde turned around, eyebrows raised.

"Funny, you ask me to stay away from Ginerva, but not from her daughter. I'm curious as to why?"

When the brothers did not respond, Dumbledore decided to speak up.

"Ms. Weasley asked them to allow you and Reilly to get to know each other."

Draco snorted.

"I'd rather choke to death."

The twins lunged at Draco and for a moment it looked as if they were going to pound him in, but somehow he managed to grab hold of both of their wands and after bringing them down to their knees, he put their wands in their faces.

"But I could kill you two first, if you think that's better," he hissed dangerously, digging the wands into their necks.

The other brothers made a move to stop him, but Dumbledore stopped them while Snape stepped forward.

"I think this meeting is over. Draco, let go of them, it'd be a shame to have to explain to their mother that her twin boys were killed because they made the mistake of insulting your intelligence," he drawled. "Weasleys, I think Draco is perfectly aware of the fact that your sister is in fact engaged and he is also aware of the ramifications of getting involved with her _or_ her daughter."

Draco moved away from the twins before he tossed their wands to the side and turned to leave.

"Next time you decide to have a family reunion, don't invite me," he said before leaving.

Dumbledore sighed and looked over at Ron.

"You should not have come."

"We're worried," Bill growled, shooting nasty glances over at the twins, who looked thoroughly chastised.

Snape turned to look at them.

"You honestly think that Draco's stupid enough to start something like that again?" he asked skeptically.

Charlie held up a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Does this look like he's not starting anything again?" he demanded.

Dumbledore shook his head.

"I believe we owe both of them the benefit of the doubt. Ginny was hurt when he left. I think we all know she's smart enough to know how to handle this situation."

**A/N: Okay, so this is getting very interesting. This chapter had to come before everything else. Whether or not you believed Jason's reaction to the whole thing is a different story, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.**

**wrenbailey:** I love the whole trio thing also. They're going to be an interesting bunch. I hope Draco doesn't do anything to them, but hey, you never know. He is a bit of a lost cause, but I'm sure we can try.

**darkroses2992:** Well, to be honest, I've actually written the ending to this story, so right now, all I'm doing is catching up. You'll just have to wait and see. All I can say is that I'm sure you'll like it either way.

**nextbestthing:** Oh, I love Luna! She's amazing and she's so smart! I love the former Slytherins also, so I couldn't just keep them out. As for Rayne's relationship, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that. We'll see what happens.

**snowfire81:** Draco's always expected to answer to a lot of people. But I think they tried to pin some of it on Ginny before the approached Draco about it. But at the moment, she's not giving him anything.

**jenny:** Blaise and Luna are so adorable in a creepy sort of way. It's cool. Let's not jump to conclusions yet. A lot could happen to Reilly between now and the end. As for Ginny getting married... she seems pretty adamant...

**Dracoginnylover24:** I don't think we'll ever figure that out, but what we do know is that she's not going to let him off the hook if anything happens to her girls. (Their girls?)

**tamara72:** At the moment there's no interaction between the two, but the others have no problem of getting their views across to the two.

**purplegabby123:** Never fear. Draco and Ginny will see each other eventually.

**Chapter Tease:**

_"Caught you doing what?" she asked with an obvious smirk. _

_Reilly went completely red and she turned on Charlie. _

_"Nothing," she snapped, glaring at him before turning to Rayne. "We weren't doing anything."_

_Rayne looked over at Charlie, who looked a bit scared of Reilly. _

_"You two weren't-"_

_"No!"_


	6. The Way Things Go

_The art of conversation consist as much in listening politely, as in talking agreeably._ **-Atwell**

* * *

Six weeks had passed since the beginning of school and despite the ungainly start, with Reilly's arrival along with Malfoy's reappearance, things had finally calmed down to a murmur. Everyone grew accustomed to their schedules and acquaintances were either becoming great friends or enemies. Professors became used to their students and knew which ones they were going to be seeing more of than others.

This calm had also spread to the Ministry, which was also dealing with an unusually low amount of stress and the Aurors were normally anxiously waiting for their time to go home, with nothing else to do.

The marvel of Draco's reappearance in England had also diminished a little and the media had given Ginny a break from the harassment. They had not dared to mess with Draco.

All of this calm unnerved Draco.

It was too quiet and after receiving Greyback's file and reading about what he had done in his attempt to make an impression Ginny, Reilly and Rayne, Draco was eagerly awaiting Greyback's next big appearance.

He knew it was coming.

Greyback was too predictable to keep away from Draco.

"Are we done?"

Draco was brought out of his thoughts by striking grey eyes that had been watching him for quite a while. His eyes narrowed.

"You expect to learn more about werewolves?" he asked.

Reilly shook her head, putting her wand back in her pocket.

"No… you just looked like you wanted to say something, that's all," she muttered.

"I've told you before that the only thing you're here for is to learn about the Dark Arts, right?"

"Yes."

"Then why would you expect me to tell you something?" he asked curiously, sitting down at his desk and observing her with very little interest.

She noticed that look and decided that she should go.

Though she wanted to be as close to him as possible, she was not about to give him any reason to do what she knew he had wanted to do for quite some time now.

"Thanks," she mumbled, grabbing her bag off of one of the student chairs and hanging it on her shoulder. She then started to head for the door. "I'll see you on Thursday."

"Where are you going now?"

Reilly stopped by the last row and turned to face him.

"I'm going to my common room to finish homework."

"Don't lie to me."

"I said I was going-"

"No you're not, don't lie to me Weasley," he said lazily, leaning back in his chair. "Where are you going?"

Reilly frowned.

"I said I was going to my common-"

"Your aunt is Hermione Weasley, you would have finished your homework by now. You've got no school books in that bag which suggests that you're not going to the library and you have three bags of food in there which also tells me that you're not going to be alone. Where are you going?" he asked again.

Reilly glanced behind her at the door, biting her lip.

"The Astronomy Tower," she muttered.

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"You're the one leaving candy wrappers up there?"

The little girl shifted awkwardly where she stood.

"I… um… I have nothing to do with what's left behind," she replied.

Draco snorted.

"What are you, their nanny?"

Reilly suddenly got indignant and temporarily forgot who she was talking to.

"I am _not_ their nanny," she snapped. "I just don't like it when they complain about being hungry."

Draco rolled his eyes and pointed to the door.

"Right. Leave," he ordered. "And if Filch finds you, I'm not going to bail you out."

"We're not doing anything wrong."

"There's a curfew."

"We're just looking for-"

He held up a hand.

"I don't care what the hell you're looking for. Get out and don't get caught," he hissed.

Reilly nodded before leaving quickly, shutting the door behind her. She walked hastily away from Draco's room, glancing around as she headed for the Astronomy Tower.

"You're late."

Reilly rolled her eyes as two small figures appeared from behind a shield of armor.

"I'm not that late," she said, approaching them and accepting one of the blankets Charlie Wilson handed her before picking up two more. "Draco was taking a bit longer and _I_ wasn't about to say anything."

Landon snorted as he grabbed his backpack and led the way to the Astronomy Tower.

"Did you bring the food?" he asked.

Reilly followed behind him with Charlie, glancing behind her every so often when she thought she heard something move.

"Of course I brought the food. I'm not stupid," she snapped. "By the way, he knows."

"What?" Charlie hissed, stopping suddenly. "Professor Malfoy _knows_."

Landon turned to face her as well, eyes narrowed.

"You _told_ him?"

Reilly shook her head.

"_No_," she replied. "I didn't say anything. He figured it out himself."

Charlie bit his lip.

"I don't like this. We said we'd do this if no one found out-"

"He's not going to tell on us," Reilly defended.

Landon let out a very rude snort.

"He told the Headmaster that we'd taken Filch's cat," he said.

Reilly rolled her eyes and began walking towards the Tower again.

"Well it's not my fault you let her loose in his class," she said over her shoulder.

"We didn't know it was his room. It was dark!" Charlie retorted.

"I don't trust him," Landon hissed.

"_No one_ trusts him," Reilly countered.

"I don't trust the three of you."

The three turned to see Draco standing near by, watching them with obvious amusement. He moved away from the wall he was leaning on and walked over to them.

"You know, if you're going to argue, I wouldn't do it in the middle of a hallway when you three are supposed to be in bed."

"We're not five," Landon said.

Draco raised an eyebrow and leaned forward so that he was eyelevel with the eleven-year-old.

"Do you want to know what happened to me when I was five and I was outside of my room at eleven o'clock at night?" he asked coolly.

Reilly stepped in and grabbed Landon by the arm. She grabbed Charlie's arm as well and dragged them away from Draco.

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

"You're mother didn't think it was such a good idea either when she was sixteen, but she took that chance," Draco responded, standing up straight.

"Mum said not to talk to you."

"You haven't done such a great job of that."

"I don't have to talk to you now."

"And I don't have to keep your secret midnight escapades to my self."

Charlie looked over at Reilly.

"Professor Draco really has it in for you, doesn't he?"

"He has it in for my mum," Reilly snapped back.

"Actually, I don't have it in for any of you. But I'm pretty sure Mrs. Norris has it in for you," he corrected, pointing to the old cat slinking off down the hall, her tail swishing eagerly as she went to alert her master. Draco smirked and turned to the three. "Back to your common rooms. You can wait one more night to find Bendel."

Their eyes widened.

"How did you know-"

"You three are the only ones in your class who would be interested in the star named after a _prankster_," he said pointedly before pointing in opposite directions of the hall. "Now, go to your common rooms."

Reilly glanced over at Landon and Charlie before shrugging.

"Come on Charlie," she muttered. "_Daddy_ wants us to go to bed."

Draco turned on his heel to leave.

"You know better than to mention my father, Weasley," he hissed before disappearing down the hall.

Reilly paled noticeably, remembering how much it had hurt for her mother to talk about what Lucius Malfoy had done to her. It was something she herself had forced out of her memory for the past few weeks and for him to bring it up was unsettling.

She thought she had made progress…

Charlie bit his lip and tugged on Reilly's robes.

"Come on Reilly," he muttered. "Let's go."

Landon waved at them.

"I'll see you later."

Reilly glanced down the hall and pointed.

"Better hurry. Filch is coming," she whispered.

They all turned to see the bright red eyes of Mrs. Norris, watching them evilly as she awaited her protector.

"Time to go."

* * *

"Hey Rayne, great practice," Micah Collins, the Head of the Gryffindor Quiddich Team, said as he headed out of the locker room with two of the Chasers. He then winked at Caitlyn Greene, Rayne's best friend and Chaser, who smiled at the gesture but said nothing as they left. Rayne rolled her eyes at her friend as she removed her shoulder pads and shin guards.

"Why don't you just ask _him_ out?" she asked. "You two obviously like each other."

Caitlyn shook her head.

"He's dating Jessica," she whispered, fixing her robes.

Rayne snorted.

"You know those two are falling apart," she said.

"Jessica's in all of my classes and so is Micah. It'd be weird," she replied.

The redhead shrugged.

"Fine, but when those two break up and a bunch of other girls start throwing themselves at him, don't come crying to me, because all I'll have to say is I told you so," she said.

Caitlyn rolled her eyes.

"Yeah whatever," she said, closing her locker and picking up her bag and broom. "I'll see you later, okay?"

Rayne nodded and waited until Caitlyn was gone before she removed the rest of her uniform. She began ruffling through her locker for some clothes when she heard the locker door open. She grabbed her towel and wrapped it around herself quickly before she turned to see who was coming in.

"Someone's a bit jumpy," Nicholas Kane said, a smirk on his face as he walked in. His eyes went over her quickly before he pointed behind him. "Caitlyn said you were still undressing. I thought I'd seize the moment."

Rayne rolled her eyes and turned back to her locker.

"You're just like him."

"Him as in Professor Malfoy?" Nicholas asked curiously, sitting down on one of the benches and watching her.

Rayne glanced over her shoulder.

"Could you at least turn around while I finish?"

Nicholas nodded and turned around on the bench while Rayne removed the rest of her clothes before she wrapped the towel back around her again. He glanced over his shoulder in time to catch her back disappear under the towel. His eyes moved down to her legs, which were sticking out beautifully. Rayne caught the obvious look and bit her lips at it.

She knew he had trouble handling himself with her and it was uncomfortable to see some of his former life showing through his eyes. However, instead of pointing it out, she tried to hide the smile that was threatening to grace her lips.

"Stare all you want, you won't see anything else," she whispered before going over to where the showers were and entering a stall.

Nicholas followed her and sat down opposite the stall so that he could talk to her, but he could not see her.

"You weren't spying on our practice, were you?" she asked over the door as hot spray struck her tired muscles and dirty skin.

"I'm not a peeping Tom," he commented.

Rayne head appeared over the door and she tilted it to the side.

"You sure of that?" she asked.

Nicholas stood up and walked over to the door, looking straight into her eyes.

"I'm pretty sure," he whispered, smirking at the blush that crept up her face.

He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers, the only thing between them was the shower door. Rayne reached up with a dripping hand and cupped his face, allowing him to kiss her gently before she pulled away and pointed towards the main area of the locker room.

"This is the part of the story where the prince has to go do something important, but promises to get back to the young girl later," she murmured.

"Canst the prince request one last kiss before I away to my castle?" he asked softly.

Rayne smiled and nodded, kissing him one more time before pointing again towards her locker.

"Out, before I change my mind and ask you to join me," she said.

Nicholas raised an eyebrow.

"Really, because-"

"Out!"

He held up his hands and backed away, smiling.

"Okay, okay, I'm going, I'm going," he said before disappearing.

Rayne bit her lip and took a deep breath.

Now she knew how Ginny felt when she was with Draco.

* * *

Rayne and Nicholas walked into the Great Hall together and stopped just at the entrance. Nicholas pulled Rayne towards her and kissed her firmly on the lips.

Boos erupted from both the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables, but the friends of the two only rolled their eyes at the behavior and returned to their food.

"Oh shut up," Nicholas snapped, pulling away from Rayne and looking over at his housemates.

"She's a Gryffindor," one of them sneered.

"Screw you," Rayne hissed before moving over to her table, but not before she gave a departing kiss that annoyed the Slytherins more as she made her way to sit down beside Reilly and one of her friends.

"Hey Rayne," the younger girl greeted. "That was a nice entrance?"

Rayne rolled her eyes.

"I'm so _sick_ of people getting upset every time Nicholas and I are together. The war's been over for twelve years and people are still anal about the whole House thing. It's annoying," she muttered as she placed some food on her plate.

Trent, another one of Rayne's friends, snorted at her comment.

"The war may be over, but tradition still remains, Rayne. Slytherin and Gryffindor have always hated each other and always will," he said. "Just ignore them. They'll get over it eventually and move on to someone else."

Rayne offered a smile and nodded.

"I suppose…" she muttered before glancing over at the head table. She noticed that Dumbledore and Snape were missing. Draco did not look to happy. "I wonder what's wrong with him."

Reilly glanced over at him as well before turning to Rayne.

"He was acting a bit odd last night," she whispered.

"Was that before or after he caught us?" Charlie asked curiously.

Rayne perked up a little.

"Caught you doing what?" she asked with an obvious smirk.

Reilly went completely red and she turned on Charlie.

"Nothing," she snapped, glaring at him before turning to Rayne. "We weren't doing _anything_."

Rayne looked over at Charlie, who looked a bit scared of Reilly.

"You two weren't-"

"No!" Reilly snapped. "We were not, Rayne! We were just out a bit late and Landon was with us."

Rayne's eyes widened with amusement.

"_Two_ boys, Reilly? You're just like Aunt Hermione," she commented.

Trent snorted at that. He had heard the stories about Rayne's aunt.

"I've heard a lot about your aunt and two friends," he said. "Not a lot of it is that good."

Reilly shrugged.

"Well, nothing happened last night," she said before standing up and grabbing her school bag. "Come on, Charlie, we have to study."

Rayne started laughing as she watched Charlie and Reilly walk out of the Great Hall. She noticed Landon Greyback leave a few seconds later.

* * *

"You okay, Reilly?" Landon asked as he and Charlie hurried to keep up with her.

She nodded.

"Fine, fine," she muttered, moving down the hall towards the library.

Landon glanced over at Charlie, who shrugged.

"I don't know."

They followed her into the library and sat down opposite her, taking out their books. They sat there for a while in complete silence before Reilly could not stand it any more and began speaking.

"Do you think it's weird that you guys are my only friends, do you?" she asked, startling them out of their studying.

"What?" Charlie asked.

Reilly bit her lip.

"You don't think it's weird that you two are my only friends, do you?" she asked.

Landon shifted in his seat, looking back down at his books.

"I don't have any other friends," he said casually, flipping the page to his book.

Charlie shrugged.

"I wasn't exactly Mr. Popular myself. Why?" he asked.

Reilly looked between them before looking down at her books.

"No reason. Just wondering," she muttered.

They fell silent again, the short conversation running through their minds as they tried to study.

Landon suddenly slammed his book shut.

"I've got an idea!"

"_Shhh_!"

They looked over at the nearby shelves where Madame Prince glaring at them.

"Sorry," Landon muttered, watching as she disappeared behind the shelves before he turned to the other two. "Instead of going up to the Astronomy Tower, we could go down to Hagrid."

Charlie frowned.

"Why would we go down to Hagrid?"

Landon turned his book around so that they could see it.

"Snaggle root," he said, pointing to a picture of a very ugly looking plant. "It comes out at night."

"So?"

Landon let out a frustrated sigh.

"Do you know how much that stuff is worth? It cures all sorts of sicknesses, but it's extremely rare," he whispered, noticing a couple of boys glancing over at them from a table nearby. He leaned in closer so that only Charlie and Reilly could hear him. "I saw some behind Hagrid's hut and I know Professor Sprout doesn't know about it. Do you know how many points we could get if _we_ got it before she did? She'd _love_ us."

Reilly frowned.

"I don't think it'd be such a good idea. Snaggle root only comes out at night. We'd be breaking the rules," she muttered.

Landon shrugged.

"So? We've been going up to the Astronomy Tower for the past couple of weeks. Why not go down to Hagrid's?" he asked.

Charlie snorted.

"Because it's outside and they'd kill us if we went outside," he replied. "I don't know about you, but I'm not partial to being _killed_."

"They're not going to _kill_ us," Landon countered. "And we'd be with Hagrid."

Reilly raised an eyebrow.

"You're going to tell Hagrid what we're looking for?"

Landon shook his head.

"We wouldn't _tell_ him. We'll just ask him if we could spend some time with him and then one of us will go out back and get the roots."

Charlie frowned.

"Wait… how do you know it's out there in the first place? Doesn't it only come out at night?" he asked incredulously.

Both Reilly and Charlie gave him looks and he shifted a little.

"Um… some of the Slytherins dragged us out there for a smoke," he muttered.

"You were _smoking_?" Reilly hissed.

Landon shook his head.

"_No_, I wasn't smoking, but the older kids needed a watch guard and they dragged me out of bed before I could say anything," he snapped back angrily.

Charlie frowned.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Landon shrugged.

"It wasn't that big of a deal."

"You were dragged out of bed in the middle of the night to watch some seventh years smoke and it's not that big of a deal?" Reilly asked.

Landon let out a weird sound before pointing to the book he had been showing them.

"Are we going to do this or not?" he asked.

"Yes-"

"No."

Reilly shot a horrified look over at Charlie.

"Yes? Yes? We can't go outside, even if it _is_ Hagrid. We'll get in _so_ much trouble," she growled.

"But if we get the roots, we'll get a medal and Sprout'll be really nice to us and stuff," Landon said.

"A medal? Is that what you're worried about? Getting a medal? We could get _expelled_!"

"SHH!" Prince hissed.

"You're making more noise than we are," Landon muttered.

"WHAT?!"

Charlie was the first out of the library. Followed by an appalled Reilly and a sniggering Landon, who was ignoring the screaming tirade of Madame Prince, who looked like she was ready to attack the young Slytherin.

"Great, now you've gotten us kicked out of the library," Reilly complained.

Charlie was trying not to laugh as they continued to move away from the library.

"Well, now what are we going to do?" he asked as he placed his books into his bag.

Landon glanced over at Reilly, who was muttering under her breath.

"We could go down to Hagrid. I'm sure his place is pretty quiet," he suggested.

"Queit!?" Reilly screeched and Landon and Charlie took off for the front of the school while the little blonde shot after them, incensed. "Come back here!"

* * *

"Um… Hagrid… could I step outside for a moment?" Landon asked carefully, ignoring the nasty looks Reilly had been sending both himself and Charlie since they had arrived at Hagrid's hut.

Hagrid glanced up from making tea and nodded, unaware of Reilly's bad mood and the bag Landon had in his hands.

"Sure. Just don't stay out long. Wouldn't want y' to be seen," he said before pouring tea in four vase size mugs.

Landon glanced over at Charlie before he went outside into the darkness. Reilly let out a weird sound that Hagrid didn't catch as he handed them their tea.

"Thanks Hagrid. It's nice to be somewhere else besides the dormitories. They're so stuffy and crowded," Charlie said.

Hagrid grinned.

"Well, it's good to have some company, y' know. Since Fang passed on…"

The large man's voice cracked at that and they noticed tears begin to run down his face. Reilly frowned and moved over to him.

"Oh Hagrid, it's okay. I'm sure Fang's in a better place," she said, patting him on the back.

The two literally jumped when he pulled out his tablecloth sized handkerchief and blew his nose. Charlie glanced over at the window when he heard a yelping noise and had a feeling Landon had also heard Hagrid's sad noise.

"It'll get better, Hagrid," Charlie offered.

There was a knock at the door and Hagrid looked up.

"What's he knocking for? Come in!" he called.

The door opened and the two Gryffindors let out a loud and surprised gasp as Professor Snape entered, holding Landon by the back of his robes. Landon was holding the roots in his hands and looked thoroughly chastised. Hagrid stood up, but before he could say anything, Snape held up his hands.

"I don't care what they told you, Hagrid, I'm taking these three," he drawled. "You two come on."

Hagrid glanced down at the two feebly and shrugged.

"Sorry, you two, but Snape's right. You've got to go."

Reilly shot an extremely nasty look at Charlie and Landon.

"This is your fault," she hissed before moving past Snape and out of the hut.

Charlie and Landon caught a mean look from Snape and hurried off after her.

**A/N: Okay, so this is going to be a double feature before I hold off for a while. I hope you enjoyed it. **

**nextbestthing:** You'll get more Luna a bit later. Not now.

**snowfire81:** Oh well, you know the Weasleys. They like to protect their own and they don't want Ginny to get in trouble again.

**Dracoginnylover24:** Well, to be honest, no one cares about what Draco thinks and they don't want Ginny to get involved with Draco again.

**wrenbailey:** Oh I _love_ Jason. He is going to be _such_ an important character moving forward and you are going to see such a stark contrast between him and Draco that it's funny.

**purplegabby123:** They were't really underground. They were just keeping out of the Ministry's radar. As for Draco, you'll just have to wait and see what he does.

**jenny:** I understand how you feel about Jason, but if you look at it _logically_, he's actually a _lot_ better for Ginny. He's not homicidal, for one thing. :-)


	7. When You're Family

_Fear of monsters attracts monsters._ _**- Unknown**_

* * *

When Reilly entered her class the next morning, she made it an obvious point not to sit down besides Charlie and Landon, who were trying to catch her gaze when she walked in. She ignored them completely and sat down besides a girl she knew from one of her other classes.

Charlie and Landon exchanged glances before turning to face Draco, who had appeared from his office, looking thoroughly amused by something. Reilly could only guess that it was about her.

The man stood at the front of the class and looked over them quickly before pointing to two of them.

"Okay, you two. Faigan. Weasley. Now," he snapped and the two first years hurried up to the front, wands in hand. Draco then turned to the class. "Okay, so we're going to see if you guys can do that disarming spell I taught you two days ago."

Reilly was a bit nervous. Faigan was _much_ bigger than she was, despite his similar status in age and school year. And just by stereotype of the Slytherin group, she had a feeling he knew this spell more than she did.

Draco had taught her how to protect herself against werewolves, for some reason unknown to her at the moment, but he had neglected to teach her how to deal with wizards.

_That_ wasn't important apparently.

"Weasley. Did you hear a word I just said?" Draco asked, his eyes watching her carefully.

She blinked a couple of times before she shook her head and looked over at him.

"What?"

Draco rolled his eyes.

"Weasley, I swear to-"

"Why don't you call her sis?"

Apparently some people hadn't learned much over the past few weeks.

Apparently some people still wished to know what Draco was capable of.

The professor whipped out his wand elegantly and with a swift flick, the student, Adam McCarty, soared to the front of the room, eyes wide. The boy was brought up to eyelevel with Draco, who's eyes were blazing at this point.

"What did you say?"

McCarty looked like he was regretting his words right about now, but by the look in Draco's eyes, it was a bit too late to take it back.

"I was just saying… isn't she your sister?" he muttered.

Draco looked over McCarty's shoulder to where he had been sitting.

"Are you two his friends?" he asked.

The two sitting with the empty seat nodded, fear evident in their eyes.

"Well then," Draco continued. "I hope you enjoy picking up whatever's left of your friend."

Two Gryffindor girls screamed and the eyes of the rest of the class grew.

McCarty's body had shrunk. However, before his bones had been able to catch up with the rest of him, his skin had stretched over his bones, scaring the hell out of the class. The tiny body started emitting squealing noises like a baby pig and that only made the situation worse when he also began leak a foul stench.

"Oh my God!" someone screamed.

The professor ignored their horror and glared at them.

"This will be the first and last time I say this," he hissed before pointing at Reilly, who had fallen against the wall with Faigan, both forgetting their hatred for each other in the common fear for Draco. "_That_ is not my sister. That is the product of my father's _rape_," he hissed, making many of the young students jump at the word. "The next time anyone relates me to that girl and I will _carve_ their tongues out." He then pointed to the door. "Get out!"

No one moved.

Everyone just stared.

"GET OUT!"

A stampede of frightened first years ran towards the door, each determined not to be the last one in there. Reilly was grabbed by the back of the robes in the melee and held back until everyone scurried out, terrified and ready to tell everyone else in the school what they had just seen and heard.

"You stay here," Draco hissed, finally letting her go and moving to his desk.

Reilly stood where she was, afraid that if she said anything, he'd take his anger out on her. She could feel the anger that had just been expressed charging the room and it was scaring her. The words he had just spoken stung to a much deeper level.

She had known that her presence had bothered him. There was no doubt in her mind that it did.

But the fact that he would out right say that she was not only the result of a malicious crime, but also that her existence was something he never wanted to acknowledge nor would he tolerate anyone else acknowledge her relation to him…

That hurt…

That hurt a lot…

"Tell me, Weasley," he growled. "Do you know what it means to stay out of trouble?"

Reilly was confused.

"What?"

Draco sighed.

"You have detention tonight… because you decided to collect some Snaggle root," he said. "Your mother said to stay out of trouble."

Reilly shifted a bit, upset by his tone.

"You're not my mother," she snapped childishly. "According to you, we're not even _family_, so why are you so concerned?"

"Answer the question," he growled.

"I think you should mind your own business," she said in a surprising bout of boldness.

That did not last long.

Draco's eyes blazed instantly and she actually took a step away from him.

"Do I look like I give a _shit_ what you think?" he snarled and she flinched at his language. "I asked you a question and I expect you to answer it."

"Mum said-"

"SCREW YOUR MOTHER!" he roared. "I don't care what your mother said!"

"You don't?"

They both looked to the door and to their surprise, and Draco's mild disdain and simultaneous pleasure, Ginny Weasley was standing there, looking pissed.

A _very_ sexy look for her.

It seemed as if time stopped as both adults took the time to look at each other for the second time in eleven years.

Ginny was still beautiful, though it looked as if she had not been getting much sleep.

_No doubt trying to avoid any dreams including himself_, Draco thought as his eyes moved down her body quickly, taking in every curve and dip that he had explored at one time or the other.

The redhead faltered under the obvious appraisal Draco was giving her and she had a weird, elating feeling that he was undressing her with his eyes.

_Stop it, Ginny! What the hell was that?!_

Ginny's mind stopped as she tried desperately to find a reason for the sensation that had just passed through her.

She could not start that again.

Especially not after what she had seen and heard just now.

She couldn't…

"Mum?" Reilly muttered, still too terrified of Draco to say anything else.

Ginny was awoken from her disturbing thoughts and she returned to glaring at Draco.

"Wait for me outside, Reilly. I'll talk to you in a couple of minutes," she said firmly.

Reilly glanced over at Draco, who suddenly had an amused look on his face, as if Ginny's appearance at Hogwarts was hilarious to him.

"Try an hour," he said, suggestively lifting an eyebrow and cocking his head towards his office and bedroom.

Ginny's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Make it thirty seconds," she corrected, raising her eyebrows as if daring him to say one more suggestive remark about their previous and disastrous relationship. "Reilly."

The young girl scurried out of the classroom, not wanting to get involved. Though she wanted desperately to know what her mother and professor-slash-brother-slash-almost father were talking about, she was not about to be the reason Ginny hated the man more than she apparently did already.

Ginny waited for the door to close before facing Draco directly.

It was a daunting act, she realized, when her eyes finally met Draco's and something inside of her, in the region of her chest, turned to mush and she temporarily forgot why she had been angry at him in the first place.

He did not take long to remind her.

"The DADA room, Weasley," he said, motioning around them. "Remind you of one particular memory?"

The mother flushed violently at his question.

Of course she remembered.

That was the problem.

"You're an arse," she hissed. "You had _no_ right to talk to Reilly that way."

Draco rolled his eyes.

If she was going to talk about that girl, then he was going to stop listening.

He had better ways of spending his time with her and if she was not interested in those things, then he wasn't going to play along.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Now if you excuse me, I have papers to grade," he said as he turned to go up the stairs to his office.

Ginny marched up to him and grabbed his arm.

It was then that she realized just why she had been avoiding this place.

It had only been a reflex, but to both of them, it was only to familiar when Draco twisted around, grabbed Ginny's throat and slammed her against the nearest wall, pressing himself against her so that she was unable to move.

For a moment, they just stared at each other, unable to remove themselves from the instant sparks that were erupting at the sensational contact. It was as if eleven years of pressure had been building up inside of a hole within the both of them and their bodies could no longer handle the strain of knowing of the other's presence, but unable to satisfy the need due to the unnatural distance they had both put between each other. It was paralyzing how perfectly it all seemed to move and how they fell into each other like the proverbial puzzle piece.

It was almost nauseating.

The familiarity of it all was so tempting as they began to recover from the initial shock of each other, but Draco, as always, was the first to do something about whatever was starting to happen again.

He let go of her quickly and took a few steps away, watching her as she began to gasp for the breath he had taken away.

Again, they stared at each other, neither of them knowing what to do with what was running through their bodies.

Their minds were still trying to get away from the past and now their bodies were starting to call for each other again.

This would not do at all.

Surprisingly, Ginny was the first to speak.

"Um… I was saying… that Reilly… she deserves more than you acting like a…" she muttered, incapable to clear the haze that had built up in her mind. "I think that you should not subject Reilly to the type of hurt you just did. It was unnecessary."

Realizing what she was talking about, Draco's eyes darkened incredibly, indicating that whatever had just happened a few seconds ago was now the last thing on his mind. She struggled to make that the same with herself.

"Don't you have some man to go screw?" he asked.

Ginny's eyes narrowed.

"Draco, this isn't funny-"

"I'm not laughing, Weasley," Draco hissed dangerously. "I don't _want_ people associating me with her."

"She's-"

"My father's child! I don't care!" Draco yelled, approaching her heatedly. She took a step back and bumped into a table, biting her lip as he continued. "I told you in the beginning that all I was here for was to teach her how to protect herself. Not to be her brother, her father or her damned protector. If people get it into their head that I give a shit about her then everything I came here to do will be for crap."

Ginny's eyes were wide when he finished and for a couple of minutes, she could not speak.

It had been a long time since she had been scared of Draco Malfoy.

It was still an impacting experience.

"I…" she started before glancing behind her at the door. "I'm going to go now…"

So she left.

She hurried to the door and closed it behind her.

Reilly looked up from her shoes and frowned when she saw her mother falter at the classroom door, grasping the doorknob tightly as she struggled to gain her bearings and clear her mind of all of the sinful thoughts that were trying to resurface in her.

Reilly could see her mother struggling. She could see the conflict and she could even see the tears brimming her mother's eyes before Ginny managed to shove them down and take deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Mum?"

Ginny looked up and stood straighter, cursing herself silently upon seeing the worried look in her daughter's eyes.

"Reilly," she whispered.

The young girl approached her mother cautiously, having heard bits of the conversation that had taken place between the overwhelmed redhead and her professor.

"Mum… why are you here?"

Ginny finally moved away from the door and met her daughter, trying to distance herself from the man inside the room. She put on a brave smile and raised an eyebrow.

"Detention, Reilly?" she asked. "Because of Hagrid?"

Reilly glanced over at Draco's door but decided to let go of whatever had happened.

"Um… would it help to say it wasn't my fault?"

Ginny laughed and tugged her daughter along towards Dumbledore's office.

"Come on, you little bint," she said affectionately. "I need to meet your little friends if I'm going to assess whether or not it's your fault."

"But mum-"

"Reilly! There you are! We thought Professor Malfoy had…" Landon trailed off when he caught sight of Reilly's mother standing with her in the hallway. Charlie collided into him when rounding the corner and the two went crashing to the ground.

"Ow! Your elbow's in my chest!"

"Well, get your leg out of my face!"

"That's not my leg!"

"Oi! _That's_ not my elbow!"

Ginny and Reilly exchanged glances while the two tried to get back to their feet.

"Well… I think that solved that question," Ginny muttered.

* * *

"Detention? Seriously, Snape?" Ginny asked as she stood in Dumbledore's office with the Headmaster, McGonagall and Snape. "Don't you think that's a bit much? It was just Hagrid's hut."

Severus raised an eyebrow.

"I think detention's appropriate when they broke curfew, _Weasley_," he replied, a bit annoyed that his former pupil was talking to him in such an informal way.

Ginny ignored the end of his comment as she turned to Dumbledore.

"I really don't see why she should get detention. She's only been here five weeks and she was just visiting Hagrid. That _hardly_ warrants a detention. Lines maybe?" she suggested hopefully.

McGonagall shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Weasley, but the ruling is final. Your daughter and her friends were out of the castle past curfew and since the war ended and especially after the Dementor incident in _your_ sixth year, we take that very seriously," she explained.

Ginny bit her lip.

"But she was with Hagrid. That has to be taken into question, right?"

Severus raised an eyebrow.

"You know, Weasley, I think the real question is why you're even down here in the first place," he drawled suggestively. "You and the _Golden Trio_ received quite a bit of detentions yourself when you were in school and your whole family is notorious for obtaining a ridiculously large amount of detentions, mostly due to those twin brothers of yours. Why did you feel you had to come down here _personally_ to tell us something you knew we would not budge on?"

The question was asking far too much of Ginny than she was willing to give.

Of course, she had asked herself that when she had come down earlier, but she had expelled any idea that had contained Draco Malfoy in it.

That did not stop Severus Snape from suggesting it though.

And it did not stop everyone else from thinking it.

"I came down here because I care about my daughter," Ginny responded heatedly.

Severus smirked.

"Rayne received four detentions in her first two weeks of Hogwarts and you didn't even send a Howler."

Ginny's face went totally red, but she was spared the response by Dumbledore, who felt the need to intercede on the poor woman's behalf.

"Severus, I think it would be best if we let sleeping hippogriffs lie," he said. "The past is past and the present is… raspberry tarts."

They all stared at him.

"Albus?" McGonagall asked.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with light-heartedness behind his half-mooned spectacles as he stood up and moved around his desk, holding out his arm for Ginny to take.

"I believe we are having raspberry tarts for dinner this evening," he told them. "Would you care to join us?"

Ginny glanced over at Severus, who seemed to find Ginny's presence even more hilarious than Draco had. She then took Dumbledore's arm and tried to smile.

"I would love to," she said. "I haven't had a raspberry tart in such a long time."

Dumbledore smiled.

"I believe they've changed a bit since you were last here," he whispered to her as they headed for the door. "The house elves had a bit of a coup when the Bloody Baron tried to stake his claim of the kitchens. We finally got him to leave, but the tarts have never tasted the same since."

Ginny glanced back at McGonagall, who rolled her eyes and ushered them out, shaking her head at the idea of it all.

* * *

Draco's words and actions had already spread like wild fire throughout the student body at Hogwarts. The incident with the Slytherin boy was also fresh in many peoples minds and coupled with the sight of Ginerva Weasley at dinner that evening, and it only fueled the thoughts that were raging through everyone's minds.

Were Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley involved and if they were, what would that mean for Reilly and Rayne?

Reilly tried to avoid any discussion on the topic while Rayne enjoyed Ginny's presence. She hugged the woman tightly and the two talked for a while before Ginny was forced to proceed to the head table after receiving a rather nasty look from Snape, who she was to be sitting beside. Draco had been moved a seat down. A vicious trick played by the Potions Master as a test of will.

Rayne only hoped that Ginny would not crack under the pressure of it all.

The bad weather portrayed by the darkening ceiling was only making the situation more ominous.

"They're all talking about us."

Ginny looked up from her food to see Draco sitting down at his seat. She steeled herself up for whatever emotions were to come and turned back to her food, trying to avoid the strange twisting of her stomach at his arrival.

"Are they?" she asked coolly. She could not give him a reason to humiliate her, Rayne or Reilly in front of the entire student body.

Draco was impressed by her calm composure and silently applauded her on such.

"I believe they're commenting on the stark contrast between us," he answered, picking up his goblet and taking a graceful sip. "They're trying to figure out how we worked."

Ginny shifted a little in her seat.

"It's a shame they're not commenting on your wardrobe," she murmured.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her snippiness.

"You find something wrong with what I'm _wearing_?"

Ginny shook her head, looking around the room casually.

"Not at all. I just thought that you would have stopped mourning for your father a long time ago," she replied.

Draco turned to look straight at her.

"Excuse me?"

Ginny turned to him as well.

"Is there a problem?" she asked innocently, daring him to say something else.

For a moment it looked as if he would pursue the topic, but instead a smirk appeared on his face and he turned to look back at student body.

"How's your fiancée? Does he know you're here?" he asked curiously.

In the corner of his eye, he could see Ginny tense up and somewhere inside of him, he was enjoying her uneasiness with him around.

"Why do you care?" she countered, not wanting him to get the best of her.

Draco glanced over to her.

"I don't. I just think it's odd that a woman who is getting married in a few months would spend so much time away from her fiancée."

"Who says I'm spending time away from my fiancée? I'm here for Reilly," she whispered with slight annoyance in her voice.

"Right."

Ginny turned to face him.

"What does that mean?"

Draco shook his head, looking down at his food.

"Nothing. I'm sure you and Jason are doing perfectly fine. I'm sure he's enjoying hearing about his girlfriend and her ex-husband in the news all the time."

Ginny's eyes narrowed.

"We haven't been in the news for a while so no, he's not pissed anymore," she told him.

Draco raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, so he _was_ pissed. Why?" he asked.

Ginny's eyes widened for a moment at her slip up before she turned away from him and looked at her goblet.

"He was _upset_, Draco, because of the picture, but that's all. I don't see what you're so smug about," she hissed. "We're fine now and we _are_ getting married."

Draco looked up at her, smirking.

"I never said you weren't. In fact, I never questioned whether or not you were getting married," he said, his eyes blazing with amusement.

Why was he having so much fun with this?

It was bugging Ginny to know end.

Was he by no means affected by this?

Biting her lip, she tried to avoid his gaze.

"I know you didn't," she muttered. "I just want you to know."

"Know what? That my presence here doesn't bother you, your fiancée or your family?" he asked coolly.

Ginny closed her eyes and tried to ignore his tone.

"Your presence does not bother me in the least," she said.

Draco caught her gaze when she opened her eyes and held her ransom to his chilling grey eyes.

"It just bothers your fiancée and your family," he finished.

For a split second, Ginny had the strangest feelings she saw his eyes travel down to her lips before meeting her eyes again.

But it was so fleeting that it was as if it didn't happen.

"Oh will you two just shut up and snog?" Snape drawled from his spot beside Ginny. "It's tiring to hear you two try to be _pleasant_ to each other."

Ginny shifted again in her seat and shot Severus a look.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm engaged," she said, waving her left hand around so that Draco and Snape could both see the brilliant diamond. She then turned back to her food. "Pricks," she muttered under her breath.

That ended any conversation.

Draco had not enjoyed Ginny's display of what had happened in the eleven years he had been gone.

Ginny had not enjoyed Draco's emotionless reaction to her display.

* * *

"If I get bitten, I'm going to curse you two," Reilly snapped as she quickly pulled out a rabbit like creature.

The tips of the ears were the only thing that stuck out of the ground and looked like twigs with three clover-like leaves on top. It had no hair and produced a nasty smelling puss that covered its entire body in a clear slime that was currently brown because of the mud they were wading in. The creature, a Malken, instantly started squealing hysterically and chattered incessantly before Reilly slapped it across the face. The Malken went limp, but continued to wheeze until she shoved it into a bag.

Landon and Charlie looked up from their wheezing Malkens.

"You really are unpleasant," Charlie commented before shoving his catch into the bag.

Reilly shot them a dark look through the rain.

"I can't believe I let you two talk me into going to Hagrid's hut," she muttered.

"No talking!" Filch growled from his spot under an umbrella. He was holding Mrs. Norris in his arms. "Them Malkens are nasty little buggers and you have to be quiet!"

Landon squinted through the driving rain and almost smiled when lightening briefly lit up their muddy hunting ground.

"I don't think noise is going to be a problem," he said.

"Shut up!"

Charlie sniggered, but said nothing as he looked around for another patch of twigs and leaves. Reilly started muttering to herself as she tried to stand up. There was a weird sucking noise as the mud tried to keep her stuck to the ground. She managed to get to her feet and look around for another patch of the disgusting rodents.

"Why isn't Hagrid here watching us?" she asked Filch curiously.

"Hagrid's the reason you're in this mess, missy, now get pluckin'," he replied roughly while Mrs. Norris just watched the rain drop with an obvious look of disdain. He was about to point out a spot they had missed when they all heard a growl in the distance.

They stopped what they were doing and all looked further into the Forbidden Forest.

"What was that?" Charlie asked shakily.

Landon looked around and frowned, listening intently.

"Probably just some animal," he whispered.

Filch glared at them.

"Get back to-"

_Awooooooooooooooo!_

The three stopped again, shaking a little at the chilling sound. Filch let out a growl that startled them out of their revere.

"I told Hagrid to get rid of those bloody wolves," he grumbled before looking down at the three Gryffindors. "You three stay here. I'll be right back. And don't even think about sneaking back to the castle."

They watched him go before they returned grudgingly back to their detention tasks.

"Ugh!" Landon gagged when he pulled up a baby Malken out of the ground.

The thing started wiggling around, flinging slimy mud around the area.

"Hey!" Reilly yelped, wiping some of the mud from her face. She grabbed some mud and flung it back at Landon, hitting him right at the side of his head.

"Oi! I didn't mean to do that," he yelped, grabbing a huge glob and throwing it at her.

Charlie rolled his eyes but stayed out of the fight, not wanting to be more uncomfortable than he already was. They were all soaked to the bone because of the rain. The mud would only add to the bad predicament.

That didn't stop Landon and Reilly from declaring all out war on each other. Ignoring the patches of Malken that were sticking out of the ground, Landon and Reilly began throwing mud at each other.

"Hey!" Reilly cried before lunging at Landon and tackling him into the ground.

"Oy!" Charlie yelped, wiping muck from his face. "Stop it before Filch comes back and we all get in trouble!"

Landon shoved Reilly off of him and sat up to look at Charlie.

"Oh come on, Charlie. Filch won't be back for another hour and by then we'll have to go back inside. Reilly's mum won't let us be out here for that long," he said while Reilly picked up a handful of mud and planted it right on his head. "Hey! No fair!"

Reilly laughed and threw some at Charlie as well.

"Come on, if we're going to be here, can't we have some fun?"

Charlie raised an eyebrow as he yanked a particularly large Malken out of the ground.

"Weren't you angry to be here?" he asked, wiping more stuff from his face.

Reilly glanced over at Landon, who was giving her the same look as Charlie. She straightened up as best she could in the mud and rain and fixed them both with a gaze similar to ones Draco had given to not only his students, but to Reilly during their sessions. She noticed her friends hesitate at the look and immediately tried to change it.

"Well… I think that-"

_Awoooooooo!_

Reilly whirled around, trying to see through rain.

"What was that?"

"A wolf?" Charlie suggested.

_AWWOOOOOOOOOOO!_

"I don't think that was a wolf," Landon said, standing up and looking over in the exact direction of the sound. Charlie and Reilly could tell that something was bothering him and they stood up as well, forgetting about their detention.

"What was that?" Reilly asked fearfully. "What's going on?"

"Look!" Charlie yelled over the sudden crack of lightening.

They turned to see the patches of Malken ears disappearing beneath the mud.

"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

"Oh my gosh!" Reilly screamed at the sound, ducking behind Landon and Charlie. "What was that?!"

Landon took off into the forest, disappearing quickly from sight.

"Landon! Landon wait!" Reilly screamed.

"Landon!" Charlie yelled before the two took off after him. Reilly grabbed hold of Charlie's hand and let him lead the way through the stormy weather and reaching underbrush that snatched their cloaks as they continued to run. There was another scream and they sped up. "LANDON!"

_AWOOOOO!_

Charlie skidded to a stop at a small break between the trees. Reilly slipped in the mud and crashed into her friend, sending them flying into the bushes.

"Ow! Why'd you-"

"Shh!" Charlie hissed, pulling her down into the bushes and pointing to what was happening in the break. "Look."

Reilly looked with him and gasped.

Landon was standing over what looked to be a body. It wasn't moving, but there was so much mud that it was hard to tell. Reilly glanced around before moving a bit closer.

"Landon," she hissed. "Landon!"

She caught his attention and he blinked through the mud and rain.

"Reilly? Charlie?"

He sounded so surprised and it was easy to see that he had gone sheet white after seeing the body on the ground. Reilly stood up from the bushes and motioned for Landon to come over while Charlie kept a look out for whatever had been there before.

"Landon! Come on! We need to find Filch!" she called.

Landon stared at her for a moment before pointing to the prone body.

"It is Filch," he said. "He's dead…"

Reilly felt herself go numb and detangled herself from the bushes, running over to where Landon stood. Her eyes fell on Filch and she felt the blood drain from her body.

The body was covered in bloody gashes and his eyes were face up.

It was revolting.

"Landon… please, let's go! We need to get back to the castle!" she pleaded. "Landon!"

The boy finally looked up and could see the fear in Reilly's eyes and nodded, backing away from the body. Charlie was motioning for them to hurry up, looking around frantically for any evidence of another presence.

Landon stopped suddenly, his eyes widening.

"He's here…"

Reilly was about to start crying and she wanted desperately to get out of the situation. The storm was getting worse and the sight of the body was too much for her to handle.

"Landon, _please_," she begged. "We have to get out of here before whatever did that comes back!"

"Come on!" Charlie yelled from his spot by the bushes. "What are you waiting for?!"

Landon looked up at them.

"It's too late…"

"Hello Landon… you've grown…"

They all looked to see a hulking, terrifying man standing in the small clearing, just beyond Filch's body, his blackened eyes scorched with bloodlust and his muscles rippling with unimaginable strength.

But the most frightening thing about the sight of the man was the blood dripping from his lips to the front of his chest.

"Oh my God," Reilly whispered. "Who are you?"

Fenrir Greyback…

His eyes darted to Reilly and Charlie briefly before traveling back to Landon. The smile that appeared on his hardened face was stained with blood drenched fangs.

"Oh Landon, I'm insulted. Don't you want to introduce your friend to your dear old dad?"

"Your dad?" Charlie could be heard saying over the driving rain. "I thought your dad was dead?"

Landon could not take his eyes off of the deadly man before him.

"My dad is dead."

Fenrir laughed a haunting and blood-curdling sound that seemed to shake the foundation of the Forbidden Forest.

"Landon doesn't like to talk about what he is," he laughed.

Landon could feel Reilly trembling horribly beside him in the mud and pushed her back as he backed up as well.

"We should go," he muttered.

Fenrir took a step forward, his eyes moving to Reilly.

"Oh… _I see_," he growled. "The little Weasley girl. Oh _Landon_… you've made this _so_ much easier."

"WATCH OUT!" Charlie screamed.

It was too late.

Out of no where, another man darted out of the woods on the right of them and struck Landon in the side, slamming him into the ground while shoving Reilly backwards.

"LANDON!" Reilly cried while backing away, eyes wide with terror. "LANDON!"

Charlie ran out of the bushes and grabbed Reilly by her arms, yanking her out of the mud and pulling her towards him. Five more men and women appeared out of the woods, eyes blazing with a lust as they watched the boy struggle against his attacker.

"Hold him down!" Fenrir growled.

They grabbed Landon's arms and legs, holding him down as Fenrir circled his son.

"NO!" Landon shouted, trying to get away, but the mud was also holding him down. "LET GO!"

Fenrir kneeled down beside Landon, fangs bared.

"It's time you knew what you were capable of," he hissed before leaning into his neck.

"NO!"

"LANDON!" Reilly screamed.

Two of the people with them, a wild eyed woman and a lanky man, turned at the cry and suddenly Charlie and Reilly found themselves running for their lives through the woods.

"GO! GO! GO!" Charlie screamed, shoving Reilly further ahead.

They both tried not to trip over rocks and get caught by thorns as they sprinted through the rain.

_Thawap!_

Reilly turned around in time to see a branch slam into Charlie's face and then see him fall to the ground, unconscious and bleeding profusely from the gash on his brow.

"Charlie!" she cried, falling down beside him and shaking him. "Charlie, wake up! Please! WAKE UP!"

She looked up when the two werewolves crashed through the bushes and caught sight of her. Their eyes blazed with hatred and they crouched down, ready to attack. One of them let out a frightening roar and she stood up, taking a couple steps back.

"Charlie please," she whispered, knowing he could not hear her. "Wake up…"

They took off.

"_What do you know about werewolves?"_

_Reilly frowned. _

"_Werewolves? I'm going to be fighting werewolves?" she asked incredulously. _

_Draco's mind flashed to the first day of school and the friendliness he had seen between Reilly and Landon. _

"_You never know."_

Reilly pulled out her wand and pointed at the two running for her.

"Um… _Tere_… _Teresa…_" she stuttered, trying to remember the curse. "_Teresa Py… Pyro…_ someone please help…"

"_Teresa Pyrasina!_"

The forest erupted in a flash of blazing fire before it was plunged back into a raging darkness and two figures disappeared into the trees, screaming in unbearable pain.

Reilly could not move, to horrified to say anything or even move.

But she did let out a yelp when someone grabbed her harshly by the arm and yanked her backwards.

"Next time, Weasley, use the curse or die," Draco snarled, shoving her behind a tree before moving over to her fallen friend. He hauled the boy up in his arms before motioning to Reilly. "Come on before I decide to leave you out here."

Reilly nodded, tears streaming down her face as they ran full-speed out of the forest and up the hill towards Hogwarts, where she saw her mother standing by the doors, wringing her hands and looking hysterical.

"Reilly! REILLY!" Ginny screamed. "Oh my God! Oh my God, are you okay?! What happened?!"

"MUM! MUMMY!" Reilly sobbed, sprinting over to her mother and grabbing on to her for dear life. "HE'S DEAD! THEY'RE BOTH DEAD!"

Ginny could barely make sense of the hysteria that was mounting as Draco emerged from the rain as well, carrying the lifeless body of Ginny's friend. Before anything else could be said though, something terrifying interrupted them.

_AWWWOOOOOOOOOOOO! AAAAWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_

Ginny's eyes met Draco's and dread suddenly filled her entire being.

"Greyback…" she whispered, clutching Reilly tightly. "He's here…"

**A/N: Enjoy!**

**Chapter Tease:**

_"Why would I come back for you?" he asked, teasing her with his hot breath on her clammy skin. _

_"Stop," she hissed, jerking a bit when she felt one of his arms move around her waist. _

_"The last time you told me to stop, you really didn't mean it," he muttered into her skin._


	8. Reality Check

_When you argue with reality, you lose - but only 100% of the time._** -Byron Katie**

* * *

Ginny sat at the side of the hospital bed, watching Reilly sleep peacefully. Madame Pomfrey had given the poor girl some dreamless sleep potion after the Reilly had broken out into a bout of panic, screaming and crying, convinced that both of her friends were dead. Ginny glanced over to the next bed, where Charlie's parents were standing, watching their son sleep as well.

Landon had not been found.

This was something Ginny had tried desperately to avoid since Reilly had been born. An encounter with something she would never understand.

Evil.

Ginny reached out and touched Reilly's face gingerly, biting her lip as she fought the tears she had been holding back since Draco had arrived back at the castle with her and the other boy.

This was not supposed to happen.

Reilly was supposed to be _normal_. She was supposed to have great friends, mean teachers and nothing was trying to kill her or her friends.

Reilly was supposed to be happy, not shrieking hysterically and sobbing out her dead friends.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "This should have never happened to you."

"Ginny."

She looked over to the door and gasped when she saw Jason coming through the door.

"Jason," she whispered, standing up and hurrying over to him. "Jason what are you doing here?"

Jason pulled her into a comforting hug, holding her tightly before he held her out at arms length so that he could look into her eyes.

"I got a message from Malfoy. He said something had happened," he replied quickly. "I came here immediately. Is Reilly okay?"

For a moment, Ginny found it hard to think.

_Draco had told Jason…_

"Ginny, are you okay?" Jason asked fearfully, misinterpreting Ginny's silence. She blinked quickly before biting her lip and nodded, pointing to Reilly's bed.

"Yeah, um… Pomfrey gave her some potions to help her sleep… she was a mess. I think she saw Filch," she whispered weakly. "Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. Her friend, Landon, is still missing."

Jason nodded, pointing behind him.

"Yes, I passed the Aurors on my way up here. Ron's here with your father. They're down stairs talking to Dumbledore, Moody and Malfoy," he said, still concerned about Ginny's mental state. It was obvious that the event had shaken her to the core and it was still affecting her. She was unconsciously trembling in his arms and her skin was very pale. "Perhaps you should sit down."

He led the way back to Reilly's bed and observed the sleeping girl carefully.

"She's not hurt," he whispered, sitting them down on the bed beside Reilly's. He frowned. "Where's Rayne?"

Ginny bit her lip.

"I don't want to tell her just yet…"

"What happened?"

Ginny shook her head.

"I don't know… her friend was unconscious when Draco carried him in," she whispered, pointing to Charlie's prone form and his parents. "Reilly was hysterical. We couldn't get anything out of her…" Tears suddenly entered her eyes and she raised a hand to her lips to keep herself from crying out loud. "She was so scared, Jason," she murmured. "She saw something and she was terrified… and I couldn't help her… I couldn't stop…"

Jason pulled her into him and she started crying, unable to control it anymore.

It was happening again…

She had let it happen again…

* * *

Moody paced Dumbledore's office aggressively.

"This is not good Albus," he growled. "When parents find out what's happened-"

"The students didn't see anything," McGonagall said, entering the office and moving over to Dumbledore. "They're all in their rooms and they don't know anything."

"But they'll tell their parents and then we'll have a problem," Moody growled. "We can't keep this contained for long. If that boy doesn't show up in the next twenty-four hours, we'll have to put out an alert."

"You really think he'll show up?" Mr. Weasley asked. "Greyback had a reason for coming here and he's not about to hand over his son willingly."

"If his son is alive," Ron muttered.

Moody shook his head.

"Greyback wouldn't kill his son."

Ron snorted.

"Yeah and Draco Malfoy didn't kill all those assholes eleven years ago," he retorted bitterly.

"It's nice to know someone cares."

They turned to see Draco come in with Rockwell and Goyle. He glanced over at Ron, who stood up straighter at his appearance.

"Oh and I _did_ kill those assholes eleven years ago and Greyback _won't_ kill his son," he said.

Mr. Weasley frowned.

"What makes you so certain? He attacked them and killed Filch," he said.

Rockwell held up the file Ron had given them.

"It's not in Greyback's best interests to kill his son," he replied.

Moody shook his head.

"The problem isn't whether or not Greyback's going to kill Landon. The problem is whether or not we can find the body before tomorrow. If it gets out that Greyback is back in England and attacking Hogwarts students, we're going to have a serious problem," he growled.

McGonagall glanced over at Dumbledore.

"What about Reilly and Charlie? Are they going to be okay?" she asked softly.

Everyone noticed Draco visibly become still at the question and Dumbledore did not seem too happy about the situation.

"Charlie is still recovering and Reilly may not be much help. Her state of mind is very fragile," he told them. "We won't get any information out of them anytime soon."

Mr. Weasley frowned.

"Then what's going to happen?" he asked. "What are we going to do about Greyback?"

Draco stepped forward.

"Don't worry about Greyback. We'll take care of that," he said.

Moody snorted.

"I'm not trusting you to take care of him. He'll just end up disappearing."

Draco glanced over at Ron before turning to leave.

"I think that's the point," he whispered, walking out of the hospital. Goyle and Rockwell followed him out.

Ron smirked.

"He's got a point."

Mr. Weasley looked at him.

"You _agree_ with him?"

Ron shrugged.

"I think putting Greyback in Azkaban after everything he's done is a joke and administering the Dementor's Kiss will be like a holiday for him. You remember what Malfoy did to his father…" he trailed off for a moment, his mind flashing back to the look in Hermione's eyes. "I think Greyback deserves whatever Malfoy gives him and trust me… it won't be nice."

Moody shook his head.

"I'm not condoning this," he growled. "I'm not going to let that man run half-cocked around-"

"Would you rather send Aurors who have no idea who their messing with?!" Ron snapped suddenly. "Would you rather let our people die trying to bring Greyback down or would you rather let _that man_ do what he wants and get the job done?!"

"This isn't about getting the job done, Weasley," Moody roared. "This is about what's legal! Draco Malfoy is a murder who deserves the exact same punishment as Greyback!"

"HE SAVED MY SISTER!" Ron snarled. "I don't care what he's done in the past! He saved my sister and I'd rather have him take care of Greyback than you!"

"Ron!" Mr. Weasley snapped.

Ron rounded on his father.

"Don't start with me," he hissed. "Greyback's going to come after Reilly and you know it. Malfoy's the only one who can stop him."

With that said, he walked quickly out the door, leaving behind a stunned group, surprised by Ron's unexpected outburst.

* * *

"Ginny, wake up, your father's here," Jason whispered, gently shaking the woman into consciousness.

Ginny opened her eyes and peered up from her place on Jason's lap to see her father standing over her.

"Hey dad," she murmured before noticing something wrong. "Where's mum?"

He shook his head.

"You mother shouldn't know about this," he said. "She would be a mess. We won't tell her until it's absolutely necessary."

Ginny nodded slowly, stretching her stiff limbs painfully as she continued to lay down on the hospital bed with Jason.

Mr. Weasley glanced over at Reilly, who was still fast asleep, before turning to his daughter.

"You must be a wreck," he whispered.

Ginny tried to smile but failed miserably, sitting up on the bed and stretching her aching limbs.

"Reilly's fine now… I'm just glad she wasn't hurt," she replied.

Mr. Weasley nodded.

"The Aurors are still out looking for Landon," he told them. "Though they don't expect to find him alive…"

Ginny glanced over at the bed Charlie Wilson was still in. His parents were a bit further off, talking quietly with Dumbledore.

"They're not looking for Greyback?" she asked.

Mr. Weasley's demeanor changed quickly and she immediately knew what was happening.

"Oh… Draco?"

Her father nodded and she sighed, leaning her head on Jason's shoulder.

"Moody must not have liked that to well," she muttered.

"No… but Ron seemed to believe in him."

"Really?"

"We got into a fight about it."

Ginny bit her lip, but decided against saying anything more on the subject, turning her eyes back to her daughter.

"Madame Pomfrey told me she won't wake up until tomorrow," she whispered.

Jason wrapped his arms around her and kissed her brow.

"It'll be okay," he whispered. "We'll get through this."

Ginny nodded, too exhausted to reply. The warmth of his embrace was comforting at this time and she was thankful that Draco had called him, for whatever reason he had…

"Mum?"

For a moment Ginny's heart leapt at the sound, but she realized a second later that it was Charlie, not Reilly, who was waking up. The young Gryffindor blinked rapidly, raising his hand to his head and wincing in pain. Mrs. Wilson was at his side instantly, tears streaming down her face as she pulled her son into a painful hug. Mr. Wilson and Dumbledore also approached Charlie's bed. Charlie's father had a look of pure relief on his face while Dumbledore watched on quietly.

"Oh Charlie, I was so worried! We thought something horrible had happened to you!" his mother sobbed.

Charlie blinked a bit more, looking more confused than worried about his mother's panic.

"Mum? What are you doing here?"

His mother held him out at arms length, worry etched on his face.

"You fell in the woods," she whispered. "You don't remember?"

Ginny watched the boy try to sort through things.

"I… I remember having detention… and then…"

His eyes widened and he looked around wildly until his eyes fell on Reilly.

"Reilly…" he whispered. "Is she okay? Was she attacked?"

Ginny shook her head.

"She's fine… she's worried about you," she replied softly. "What happened?"

Charlie stared at his friend's mother for a few minutes before his eyes filled with terror.

"He killed Filch… Landon's father killed Filch!" he yelled. "Then he killed Landon! We tried to run, but they were too fast! We were running and then…" he frowned at that point, his hysteria waning for confusion again. "I don't remember anything after that… did you find Landon? Is he okay?"

Everyone looked over at Dumbledore, who sighed sadly.

"We have not found Landon yet, Mr. Wilson," he replied. "But we are looking for him, I assure you."

Jason felt Ginny tremble a little and pulled her closer.

"Albus, what were they doing out there in the first place?" he asked. "If a storm was brewing, shouldn't they have been called in?"

Dumbledore shook his head.

"I'm sorry this happened and I take full responsibility for it, but asking why they were out there is not the best thing at this point," he responded.

Ginny bit her lip.

"What's going to happen then?"

Dumbledore glanced between her and Charlie's parents.

"We're going to do the best we can."

* * *

It was three in the morning when Ginny found herself trailing behind Jason as they moved down the stairs, barely holding his hand as they walked. She was barely aware of where she was walking. Her mind was being bombarded by images of Reilly, sleeping, screaming…

She closed her eyes and took a quick breath, trying to calm herself down.

For eleven years, she had sheltered Reilly. She had kept her closer than Rayne because Rayne had seen everything… Reilly had known nothing…

Until that summer… it was then that she had asked about Draco and Ginny regretted telling her about him…

_Oh Draco…_

What was she going to do with him?

"Ginny? Gin?"

Ginny was jerked out of her thoughts by the sound of Jason's voice. She looked up to see him watching her with the same concerned and fearful look he had had when he had arrived at the Hospital wing a couple of hours earlier. It was a look she did not want to see anymore.

She looked around to see that they had reached the front doors of the Hogwarts.

"Are you okay?" he asked, reaching out and caressing her cheek softly.

She blinked a couple of times before nodding.

"Yeah… um… I was just… thinking," she murmured. "What were you saying?"

Jason frowned, but did not comment on her behavior. It was completely understandable.

"Actually, I wasn't saying anything. Your brother was," he whispered, taking her arms and turning her to face Ron, who was also watching her carefully.

"Ron," Ginny whispered. "What's going on?"

Ron looked between Jason and Ginny before he spoke.

"We're still searching for Landon," he told them quietly, glancing over at a couple of Aurors who were moving through the entrance hall. "You should probably go home and get some rest, Gin."

She shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself.

"No… I need to be here when Reilly wakes up. She should see my face when she wakes up," she muttered.

Ron looked over to Jason who nodded.

"That's probably a good idea," he responded, looking down at her. "Look, Gin, I'm going to go down to Hogsmeade and check in to a hotel."

Ginny bit her lip and turned to him.

"You're sure?" she asked.

Jason nodded.

"I've got to do a lot to do in the morning," he whispered. "A bunch of officials are going to be swarming the town and I'm going to be bombarded with a bunch of men and women trying to get information."

Ginny nodded and leaned up to kiss him briefly on the lips before she wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly. She felt so weak and so numb that she would have loved to stay in his arms forever, but she reluctantly pulled away nodding again as she backed over to Ron.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning," she murmured.

Jason nodded before shaking Ron's hand.

"Take care of her," he said.

Ron glanced down at Ginny, who looked ready to collapse right then and there. It was heartbreaking.

"I will."

Jason fixed his coat and after a last peck on the cheek for Ginny, he walked out of the school. Ron looked down at his sister.

"Come on, Gin, I'll take you back up to the Hospital Wing," he whispered.

They were about to go up the stairs when the doors opened again and a huge gust blew in, attracting their attention. Ron turned to see Draco Malfoy come back through the door with Severus Snape.

"What's going on?" Ron asked.

Snape motioned for Ron to come with him.

"Alastor needs you outside," he said. "Come on."

Ron shook his head, pulling Ginny closer to him.

"I'm taking Ginny back up to the Hospital Wing," he replied. "I'll be down soon."

Snape shook his head.

"We found Filch and another woman," he said, his eyes moving briefly to Draco, who was watching Ginny with an emotionless gaze. "Alastor needs you now."

Ron frowned.

"I don't think-"

"I'll take her up," Draco said, causing Ginny to jerk a little before she looked up at Draco.

Ron looked a bit reluctant to hand her over to her ex-husband, but after a clear look from Snape, he motioned Draco over to hold Ginny up. She was too exhausted to stand by herself. Draco took her arm and after making sure she was okay, Ron followed Snape out the massive oak doors.

There was a moment of silence before Ginny pulled away from him and started to move towards the stairs.

"I can make it up there myself," she muttered weakly. Typical to the irony, she stumbled over herself and Draco had to grab her arm to hold her up against him. Ginny looked up at him before she looked away.

"You're legs beg to differ," he whispered, trying to ignore her proximity to him. "You don't want to my help?"

Ginny tried to move away from him, but he held her to him in a vice grip.

She didn't need this right now.

"Since when have you ever offered to help?" she asked.

Draco caught her eyes and gave her a chilling look.

"You really want to ask that question?" he asked.

He felt her tremble beneath him and after a moment of thought, she allowed him to lead her up the stairs.

They were quiet for a while, each of them lost in their thoughts.

Then Ginny stopped again.

"What is it, Weasley?" Draco asked.

Though he was not tired or distraught, he was not exactly in the best of moods. He had been out in the rain for quite a bit and it had not been pleasant.

Ginny looked up at him.

"Why did you call Jason?" she asked, peering up at him through red eyes.

Draco stared at her for a moment before he pulled her into walking along the dark corridors, ignoring the look she was giving him. When he did not answer her, her interest peaked. This was not normal Draco behavior…

They walked in silence again until they reached the Hospital Wing doors.

She stopped again, turning to face him.

Something else had been bothering her since her conversation with Draco in his classroom… and she need to know now…

"Draco… what are we?" she asked softly.

His eyes moved over her face quickly before tilting his head to the side.

"What are we?" he repeated.

Ginny bit her lip and looked away from him.

"What… what are we?" she asked again, tears coming to her eyes. She didn't know why she was crying. Perhaps it had just been such an emotional day… or maybe the topic bothered her more than she thought. "We're not together anymore but we're not enemies… we're not friends but we're not acquaintances… we don't hate each other but we don't love… you're really close…"

While Ginny had been talking, Draco had been moving nearer to her, trapping her between his arms against the wall. His face was breaths away from hers and his startling grey eyes were making her legs go weak.

"You're too close," she murmured.

Draco looked her over quickly before speaking.

"What do you want us to be, Weasley?" he asked. "I could be your vindictive ex-husband… your daughter's professor… and unwelcome stranger… or…" He leaned in closer, their lips barely touching. "I could be the nostalgic rat bastard you remember from eleven years ago…"

Ginny could feel his lips touch hers for a split second before she gained a bit of strength and shoved him away, closing her eyes as she struggled to breathe.

"I'm getting married, Draco," she gasped. "You can't just come back and think that I'll just-"

"Fall into my arms?" he asked, a smirk teasing his lips.

Rage boiled up within Ginny.

How could he be smiling?

How could he take this so lightly?

How could he think she wanted…

"This isn't funny, Draco! You can't always control things!"

Draco shook his head.

"I'm not controlling anything."

Ginny glared at him.

"Why did you come back? What do you want from me?"

"What makes you think I came back for you?"

She pointed at him.

"Don't you dare think I'm stupid enough to believe that you came here for Greyback," she hissed. "If you wanted Greyback dead, you would have killed him by now! You would have killed him in the woods!"

To Ginny's annoyance, Draco's smirk grew and amusement flooded his eyes. He approached her again, forcing her to back up into the wall as he came closer, his knowing eyes boring into her soul.

"Then, I suppose I did come back for you," he whispered, leaning in to her. Ginny faltered under his gaze, unwanted feelings traveling up and down her spine. "The question is why?"

"Stop it," she murmured, closing her eyes to block him out.

He leaned into her ear, his body pressing against hers.

"Why would I come back for you?" he asked, teasing her with his hot breath on her clammy skin.

"Stop," she hissed, jerking a bit when she felt one of his arms move around her waist.

"The last time you told me to stop, you really didn't mean it," he muttered into her skin.

She slapped him and before he could react and attack her, she scrambled from the wall and into the Hospital wing. She closed the door behind her as quietly as she could, struggling to gain control of herself. Ginny closed her eyes as her chest heaved and her heart pounded mercilessly against her ribs.

Everything was coming back.

The emotions…

The words…

The sensations…

She slapped a hand to her mouth to stop the sob that threatened to escape her lips, but it did not stop the tears that poured from her eyes and streamed down her face. She could no longer breathe and every nerve in her body was on fire.

Draco Malfoy was back…

And he wasn't going anywhere soon…

**A/N: Things are about to get very interesting. **

**Dracoginnylover24:** Draco can be such an arse, but he's kind of sexy doing it.

**nextbestthing:** We don't know what Greyback did to Landon, but we do know what Draco's doing to Ginny.  I loved Dumbledore's reaction after the scene with Snape and Ginny.

**Mae Silverpaws:** That sounds like a good idea.

**wrenbailey:** Wow, someone's really gotten into the parallel Reilly/Lucius, Landon/Fenrir relationship. Pretty cool. As for Jason and Draco meeting, we'll have to wait a little while longer for that. Oh, I love making Draco see how much better Jason is for Ginny, though at the present moment, he really doesn't seem to care. I know! No one ever does a Filch death and I thought it was weird that he sort of just went off the radar. I thought I'd bring him back… if for a little bit.

**snowfire81:** I'm glad you enjoyed the last two chapters. I actually enjoyed writing them as well.

**Chapter Tease: (Nothing right now.) Sorry!**


	9. Sticks and Stones

_The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing._** -John Powell**

* * *

It was early the next morning when Reilly finally woke up. It took her a while to open her eyes, but when she did, she was very aware of where she was.

She just could not remember why…

She released a groan as she tried to sit up in her hospital bed while trying to remember what had happened the night before.

"You're awake."

She turned to see that Charlie was sitting up in the bed next to hers with a large bandage attached to his head.

It would have been humorous if it had not reminded her of the nightmare that had taken place in the Forbidden Forest.

"You're alive," she whispered back, checking herself to make sure that they were indeed alive. "How did we get up here?"

Charlie shrugged before wincing a little.

"I don't know. I just remember running behind you through the woods and then nothing…"

Reilly looked around the hospital wing, looking for any other signs of life. There was no one else there.

"Landon's not here," she muttered. "Do you think he's at St. Mungos?"

She looked over at Charlie and saw the hopelessness that washed over his face.

"They haven't found him yet, Reilly," he replied weakly. "They found Filch and one of the people who were following us, but they haven't found him yet…"

Reilly bit her lip.

"You think he's dead?" she asked.

Charlie's face grew darker.

"Why would his father kill him?"

Reilly shrugged.

"Why would Landon lie about his father?"

Charlie gave a weird shrug before he touched his head and winced again. Reilly tried to get a better look of him from her bed.

"Does it hurt a lot?" she asked curiously.

The boy shook his head slowly.

"Not as much as it did earlier, I suppose…" he trailed off there and stared across to the window. "Where do you think Landon is?"

Reilly's heart sank at that question and she sighed.

"I hope he's alright… he sounded like he was in a lot of pain when they-"

She was cut short when the Hospital Wing doors opened and her mother and Charlie's parents walked in, along with Rayne, Dumbledore, McGonagall and Moody.

"Hey mum!" Reilly greeted, happy to see her mother and sister.

Ginny hurried over to the bed and hugged her daughter as tightly as she could, fighting the urge to cry as she did so.

"Oh Reilly, I'm so sorry," she murmured. "You never should have seen what you did and gone through all of that. I'm so sorry."

Reilly pulled away to look into her mother's eyes and could see the hard time she had put Ginny through over the past few hours. There were dark circles under Ginny's eyes and in general she looked like a panicky mess.

"I'm fine mum," she whispered. "I missed you."

Ginny hugged her again before making some room for Rayne, who was frowning.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, sitting down on the bed and watching both first years carefully. "What happened?"

Dumbledore took a step closer.

"I think it would be best if we didn't force Ms. Weasley and Mr. Wilson repeat what happened last night," he said carefully. "Mr. Wilson has told us all that he can and I doubt that your sister's story will be any different save a few seconds that Professor Malfoy has already filled us in on."

Reilly looked over at the Headmaster.

"Have you found Landon yet?" she asked and Charlie sat up straighter in his bed, eager to hear the answer as well.

Dumbledore shook his head sadly.

"I'm sorry, we have not, but we do have Aurors out there looking for him. Do not worry," he replied before turning to McGonagall.

"Madame Pomfrey suggests that you two stay in the Hospital Wing for one more day before you are released. Do not worry about catching up with assignments," she told the two, sending a pointed look over to Reilly, who seemed to have a question about that bubbling inside of her. "You're teachers all know of what is going on and will be as accommodating as possible," she continued. "That _does not_ mean that you do not have to do homework. It just means that you will be given extra time to complete it if needed. We do not want you two falling behind completely, do we?"

Mr. and Mrs. Wilson looked a bit upset by the turn of events.

"You don't seem too worried about the fact that a werewolf is running around with one of your students," Mr. Wilson commented.

Ginny stood up and turned to them.

"Harry Potter used to come to this school remember," she whispered before looking down at Reilly. "Look, I have to get back to work… are you going to be okay?"

Rayne smiled.

"She's a Weasley. She'll always be okay, right?"

Reilly nodded before glancing over at Charlie and catching an obvious look he was giving her. Suddenly she remembered their previous conversation and the confusion that had surrounded their attack in the first place.

"Why did Landon's dad attack us?" she asked quickly, startling her mother and the others.

"Is his dad really a werewolf?" Charlie asked as well.

Charlie's parents looked to Dumbledore, who looked to Ginny as if expecting her to explain to her child what had been happening. Ginny bit her lip and sighed.

"Reilly… that man… Landon's father… he's the one who's been harassing us all summer," she whispered.

"Landon's _dad_?" Reilly repeated, her eyes growing. "Why? Why does he want-"

Ginny held up a hand and Reilly stopped talking immediately, waiting patiently for her mother to continue.

"Look, this is difficult and I can't explain everything," she said firmly. "All I can tell you is that Landon's father, Greyback, is dangerous and he…" At this point, it became obvious to everyone that Ginny was having a hard time coming to grips with the reality of the situation. Last night had been an unwanted and jarring wake up call to a world she had hoped would not come to being and shielding her daughter from that world had been her way of coping. If Reilly knew about the real dangers of her existence, then Ginny would have to face the real dangers as well and there was one particular aspect of that danger she was not exactly up to dealing with.

"Greyback is dangerous, Reilly," she said quickly. "And that's all you need to know right now. I want you to stay away from the woods from now on. I want you to be with some one at all times and need you to stay safe. This is a very serious situation and I need you to take it seriously."

"What about Landon? Why did his father attack him?" Charlie asked expectantly.

Ginny was about to say something when McGonagall stepped forward.

"Mr. Wilson, Landon was in the wrong place at the wrong time," she snapped abruptly. "It would be best if the two of you kept this to yourself until further notice. We are dealing with a very sensitive subject that must be handled with the utmost care and we cannot tell you more than what Reilly's mother has already told you."

"But-"

"Professor McGonagall is right, Reilly," Ginny cut in, giving her daughter a look. "I know you want to know more and believe me, I know how you feel in that regard, but for you own safety, it is best if you knew less…"

Frustration built up inside of Reilly and appeared to them in the form of unshed tears, brimming at her eyes.

"But that's not fair! We saw what happened! Why can't we know?!" she demanded. "He's our friend!"

"Reilly!" Ginny snapped. "You need to understand that there's more going on than you can handle. It's better if you didn't know."

Reilly shook her head angrily.

"But you get to know everything! Rayne gets to know everything! Why can't I know?"

Ginny gathered her daughter into a hug, holding her tightly as the girl began to cry.

"Oh honey, it's going to be okay," she whispered. "We're going to find Landon and everything's going to be okay… you just need to calm down…"

"But I want to know why we were attacked!" Reilly snapped.

Moody frowned.

"Perhaps it would be best if she _did_ know-"

Ginny rounded on the older man.

"No!" she snapped. "This isn't a discussion. All Reilly needs to know is that Greyback is dangerous and if your people did their _jobs_, we won't have this problem any more!"

Moody's eyes widened.

"Their jobs? It was your precious Draco who demanded to have the Greyback file and deal with the bastard personally! So if it's anyone you should be screaming at, it's him!"

Ginny felt like she'd just been slapped in the face.

_Her precious Draco?_

However, before she could respond, Dumbledore stepped in between the two.

"Perhaps we should take this conversation outside," he suggested pointedly, glancing over at the two small Gryffindors as he did.

Ginny turned bright red and nodded quickly, turning to Reilly and Rayne.

"Are you two okay?" she asked.

Rayne glanced over at Reilly, who still had tears in her eyes.

"We'll be fine," the young woman replied slowly.

Ginny nodded and after giving both girls a kiss on the temple, she walked out of the Hospital Wing with Moody. Dumbledore and McGonagall exited with Charlie's parents, leaving Rayne to the two first years.

"You okay, Reilly?" the sixth year asked carefully.

Reilly sniffed and rubbed her eyes.

"I'm fine," she muttered.

Charlie looked extremely upset by the whole display and did not seem to buy Reilly's brisk response.

"You're crying, Reilly," he pointed out quickly.

Reilly shot him a nasty look.

"Well, we're in here, doing nothing while Landon could be hurt some where! And they won't tell us _anything_."

"Because you're not supposed to know anything."

They all turned to see Draco Malfoy come in with Gregory Goyle trailing lightly behind him. Reilly hastily wiped away the remaining tears from her eyes while Charlie paled slightly. He had heard stories about the DADA professor and none of them had been especially good.

Draco ignored Reilly's watery demeanor and looked at Rayne.

"Don't you have class?" he asked.

Rayne raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you?"

Goyle motioned to Rayne.

"Come on you," he muttered. "Draco needs to speak to the runts alone."

Rayne let out a sigh and followed her uncle out of the Hospital Wing quickly, knowing it was pointless to argue the point. She would lose.

Draco waited till the door was closed before turning to the two.

"Just so we're clear, you two are _not_ to mention _anything_ to anyone about what happened in the forest," he whispered.

Reilly glared at him.

"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you!" she yelled. "That's why you've been teaching me all of those curses against werewolves!"

Draco rolled his eyes.

"They obviously didn't seem to work very well," he hissed. "That's not why I'm here."

"Then what do you want?"

"I want you two to come in three times a week for lessons," he replied curtly.

Charlie paled even more.

"Why me?" he asked timidly.

Draco turned his expressionless grey eyes on the boy.

"Because you were stupid enough to get seen by Greyback and now he's going to be after you," he answered.

"HE'S GOING TO BE AFTER ME!" Charlie yelped.

"No he's not!"

They turned to see Ginny coming through the door, looking incensed. She marched right up to Draco and poked him hard in the chest.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" she asked angrily. "You can't tell him things like that!"

Draco snorted.

"I figured it would be best to have them prepared for another attack," he responded.

Ginny's eyes widened.

"Another attack? You're _expecting_ another attack?"

The man rolled his eyes at her ignorance.

"You honestly believe that there _wont_?"

The redheaded woman stood up straighter and glared at him.

"I don't know what's going to happen, but what I _do_ know is that _you_ will not be teaching them anything _nor_ will you tell them anything more about Greyback!"

Reilly got out of her bed and walked over to her mother.

"But mum-"

Ginny turned to her daughter.

"We already talked about this," she whispered. "You don't need to know about Greyback."

"The hell she doesn't," Draco muttered, causing Ginny to whirl around on him.

"Since when do you care about what they know?" she asked heatedly. "Why the _hell_ do you care?"

"I don't."

"Then get the hell out of here!" she yelled. "And if I see you anywhere near my daughter again unless she's in class, then I'm going to talk to Dumbledore and have him do something about it."

"You'd do that to her brother?"

"Oh you son of a-"

"Mum!"

"GET OUT!" Ginny yelled, pointing to the Hospital Wing doors. "GET OUT NOW!"

"What's going on in here?" McGonagall demanded as she entered the wing. She noticed the two adults and frowned. "Why are you two screaming?"

Draco snorted, moving towards the older woman and the doors.

"Ask the banshee," he responded.

"Banshee?!"

"_Mr. Malfoy_," McGonagall interrupted with that familiar tone that Draco and Ginny remembered from their time at Hogwarts. "I suggest you leave…. _Now_," she added, giving him a very pointed look that he ignored completely. He looked at Ginny.

"You can't keep her from the truth for very long, Weasley," he said. "I thought you would have learned enough about keeping secrets from your sixth year here."

Ginny's face went red and her eyes narrowed.

"Get out now," she hissed.

Draco shrugged and headed out the door, with nothing more to say to the incensed woman. Ginny turned to her daughter and Charlie.

"Stay away from him," she ordered.

Reilly's eyes grew.

"But mum-"

"There will be no buts about it, Reilly," Ginny snapped. "Draco is dangerous and I don't want you near him anymore."

"But he saved our lives!" Reilly countered.

"He saved my life also, do you see where that got me?" Ginny replied quickly and without thinking. Immediately, Reilly's whole demeanor changed. Her shoulders slumped and her eyes clouded with hurt at Ginny's stinging comment and began fill up with tears. Her mother's eyes widened and she slapped a hand to her mouth in horror. "Oh Reilly, I didn't mean that," she gasped, taking Reilly's face in her hands. "You know I didn't mean that. I love you so much and I do not regret having you… oh Reilly, I am so sorry!"

Reilly looked at anything but her mother, too hurt to say whatever was running through her mind. Ginny could see that she had hurt her daughter a lot by the comment and could also see that she was not going a response out of her at all. Biting her lip, Ginny pulled Reilly into a tight hug before pulling away and kissing her cheek.

"I'm sorry, Reilly," she whispered. "I-"

"Mr. Wilson, it is time for your bandages to be redressed," Madame Pomfrey announced as she stepped out of her office, unaware of what had just happened in her Hospital Wing. The nurse marched right over to Charlie and pointed to his bed. "Sit down, Mr. Wilson and try not to move so much this time. Fidgety wizards always make things difficult," she commented before turning to Reilly. "Ms. Weasley, you need to get back in your bed, right now. You should not be running about like some wild hippogriff… Ms. Weasley, now!"

Ginny released her daughter and watched Reilly return dejectedly to her bed, staring down at her hands the whole time. Ginny was about to go over and talk to Reilly, but McGonagall grabbed her shoulder and shook her head.

"Give her some time," the Transfiguration professor advised.

Ginny nodded slowly, still appalled at herself for saying what she had.

She left the Hospital Wing with McGonagall and for a while they walked in an uncomfortable silence before the professor decided to say something.

"Ginny," she whispered. "It is a dangerous thing you are doing. Forcing Reilly to keep away from Mr. Malfoy and vice versa."

Ginny shook her head.

"I don't want Reilly to know about Greyback until it's absolutely necessary, Professor," she whispered.

"When is 'absolutely necessary'?"

Ginny stopped in her tracks and bit her lip, unsure of how to answer that question. McGonagall frowned.

"Ginny, perhaps this little outburst has more to do with your feelings for Mr. Malfoy than your reluctance to divulge information with your daughter?"

Ginny took a deep breath and turned to the older woman.

"Do you think I'm overreacting?"

McGonagall offered a comforting smile.

"I think you're being a protective mother who has a lot of baggage in her past," she responded. "I know you are trying to shed yourself of Mr. Malfoy and move on with Mr. Conwell, but perhaps this is not the best way to go about it. You and I both know that Mr. Malfoy will not leave until he deals with Greyback and that will not happen if you… _delay_ his other agenda with Reilly."

Ginny could see the logic in her former professor's comments and she cursed herself for her stupidity.

"Great," she sighed. "Now I have to go and talk to him."

McGonagall placed a hand on Ginny's shoulder and smiled.

"Don't worry about that," she said. "I'll deal with Mr. Malfoy. You go deal with your daughter. I'm sure she's willing to forgive you now."

To the old woman's surprise, Ginny moved forward and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you, Professor," Ginny murmured before pulling away and hurrying back to the Hospital Wing.

McGonagall watched her disappear into the wing before she turned to walk down to the DADA room.

"You're welcome Ginny," she said to herself with a smile.

**A/N: Okay, okay, I know it's a bit overdue, but I hope you enjoyed it. And if you didn't, well then that's your problem, but I'd appreciate your review nonetheless. **

**Kiah M.:** I'm sorry I don't remember you, but I'm glad you're back anyway!  I'm glad you like the story and I'll do my best with Landon, but I won't make any promises.

**Jenny:** I think it's a bit early to be killing people, especially a main character. But who knows? At the moment, I think Ginny needs to take a breather and clear her mind. Draco is probably the _last_ thing she needs at the moment. And not meaning to root for the other guy, but I think Jason's being a much better person at the moment than Draco. (I still love Draco better though).

**Mae Silverpaws:** It is a novelty, isn't it?

**nextbestthing:** Oh my gosh! You are like my new best friend! I _totally_ agree with you! Draco needs to leave her alone!

**Dracoginnylover24:** He is sexy! But he is also very odd.

**wrenbailey:** I'm loving Jason a lot, to be honest. Of course he's no Draco, but he's really good for Ginny and that's amazing. I love your analysis of their relationship, though to be quite honest, I've already decided the outcome of this story. I've actually written two of the final chapters. I'm just sort of filling in the blanks now. Filch did get a bad break, but at least he wont terrorize the students anymore. I can't wait to see happens with Landon.

**purplegabby123:** Oh I want him to stick around also, but I'd prefer it if he didn't bug Ginny as much as he does.

**snowfire81:** That's sort of ironic that I broke off updating for a long period of time after you said that… I just thought I'd point that out…

**No Chapter Tease. **


	10. The Bird and the Bee Side

_Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities of progress. _**-Thomas A. Edison**

* * *

"Are you going to eat that?"

Reilly looked away from her newspaper to see Charlie pointing to her breakfast. She silently shook her head and went back to reading the paper, looking over the Ministry report. Nothing new.

"Anything interesting?" Charlie asked quietly.

"No," she responded, folding the paper and placing it down on the table. "There's nothing here about Landon.

"Well, it's been a couple of weeks," he muttered. "Perhaps they're looking somewhere else."

Reilly glanced over at the head table and immediately picked Draco out of the group of teachers.

"But _he's_ been back forever. He's not even looking anymore," she whispered.

"What are you two talking about?"

The two looked up to see Edna Burke, a fellow Gryffindor, standing there, eyeing Reilly suspiciously. Ever since Landon had disappeared, it had become increasingly obvious to Reilly that the girl had a crush on Charlie. However, it had also become apparent that Edna saw Reilly as some sort of threat.

Charlie, of course, was completely oblivious to this entire thing.

"Hello, Edna," he greeted as cheerfully as possible.

The girl's blue eyes immediately brightened and she proceeded to ignore Reilly.

"Hi, Charlie. What are you doing right now?" she asked.

Reilly glanced between the two before she stood up.

"Actually, _we_ don't have a class right now. We have to head back to the common room to study," she said pointedly, snatching the Prophet off of the table and stuffing it into her bag. Charlie stood up as well, smiling at Edna.

"I have a couple of papers to finish writing," he explained.

Edna's excitement only grew.

"Great! Can I join you? I have some work to complete as well," she said, following Reilly and Charlie out of the Great Hall. Reilly frowned at how close the girl was to Charlie, but said nothing about it. Instead, she began walking a little faster.

"Sure. That's okay, right, Reilly?" Charlie asked.

Reilly glanced over at Edna briefly before nodding curtly.

"That's fine."

When they reached the common room, Reilly was greeted with another form of Edna's childish infatuation when, before Reilly could sit down, the girl managed to slide in beside Charlie, forcing Reilly to sit on a seat nearby the couch. Charlie seemed a bit unaccustomed with the girl's proximity, but said nothing about it. Instead he proceeded to pull out his books while Edna looked around the common room.

"There aren't many people here today, are there?" she observed.

Charlie glanced around and shrugged.

"I suppose not," he muttered before frowning. "Um, Reilly, do you have my Potions book?"

Before Reilly could respond, Edna pulled hers out and handed it to Charlie.

"You can borrow mine," she suggested quickly.

Reilly rolled her eyes and returned to the book she needed to read for Charms class, ignoring most of the conversation between the two others.

They remained in the common room for an hour and a half before Edna realized she had to leave to get something from Madame Pomfrey before class started. The girl packed up her stuff and after waving goodbye to Charlie, left.

"Oh give it a rest, Reilly," Charlie muttered when she burst out laughing. "It isn't funny."

"It's a little funny, Charlie," she responded, moving over to sit beside him. She grabbed his two essays and went over them briefly before handing them back with some corrections. "Hurry up. I don't want to be late for Potions this time."

Charlie snorted and quickly finished his work.

"Are you sure you just weren't jealous?" he asked.

Reilly's eyes widened and she hit him in the shoulder.

"Jealous? You're eleven years old and barely passing Potions. What do I have to be jealous about?" she asked as they stood to leave.

Charlie ran a hand through his hair and smiled charmingly.

"My roguishly handsome looks?"

Both of them burst out laughing as they walked out of the common room. Reilly linked her arm with Charlie's and tugged him along endearingly.

"Come on, Mr. Roguishly handsome," she said. "Professor Snape might not have the same opinion of you as I do."

Charlie suddenly stopped and stared at something for a moment.

"What?" she asked.

He pointed and she turned to see Draco Malfoy heading their way.

"Now I _really_ wish Landon was here," he muttered.

* * *

"Mum?"

Mrs. Weasley looked up from the dishes she was flicking into cabinets and smiled.

"Oh Ginny! There you are! Could you hold open that cupboard over there?" she asked.

Ginny opened the cabinet and waited until all of the tea cups were in before closing it again.

"Hey, mum," she greeted. "How are you?"

Mrs. Weasley pointed outside into the wintry scene.

"It's already started to snow, Ginny," she said. "Can you believe that?"

The youngest Weasley grinned and hugged her mother quickly before sitting down at the kitchen table to watch her mother move around and make tea.

"How's dad? I haven't had a chance to see him lately."

Mrs. Weasley waved her hands around absentmindedly.

"Oh, you know your father. Busy as ever. Always in and out of the house with nothing better to do that talk about all of those Muggle gadgets and raids they conduct."

"Sounds like fun."

Her mother laughed and sat down across from Ginny with two steamy mugs of tea.

"Oh it is. Especially when he brings some of it home with him. Lord knows, that man needs something to do. I just wish he'd keep some of it at the office," she commented.

Ginny smiled and sipped some of her tea while looking out the window, watching the snow fall lightly to the ground, covering some grassy spots while other places were left untouched. She sighed at the sight and placed her chin in her hand, biting her lip as the grey sky above continued to release the beautiful white powder.

"Anything on your mind, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked upon hearing her daughter sigh.

Ginny glanced over at her mother and shook her head.

"No… it's nothing. I'm just worried about Reilly."

"Have you talked to her lately?"

Nodding, Ginny took another sip from her tea.

"I received a letter from her yesterday. They're becoming so cryptic, I swear she's becoming like Rayne."

Mrs. Weasley frowned.

"Well, what did you expect to happen? Especially with Greyback out there with her best friend."

Ginny hesitated, eyes wide and heart racing.

"Greyback?" she repeated. "How do you know about that?"

Mrs. Weasley sighed, got up and walked over to the sink, pulling open a drawer nearby. She picked up a couple of envelopes and then returned to the table, handing them to Ginny.

"Apparently, the only honest to come out of Hogwarts was Draco Malfoy," she commented. "We've been in touch for quite some time."

Ginny looked over the letters, surprised by how candid Draco was being with her mother.

_What the hell was going on?_

"He sent these?" she asked disbelievingly. They were too nice. Too polite. Too… unlike Draco…

"He sends me updates, which is the least that I can say for you or your father," Mrs. Weasley snapped. "I can't believe you tried to keep this from me, Ginny."

Her daughter looked up from the letters, at a loss for words.

Why was Draco Malfoy sending her mother letters?

Why was he calling Jason over to Hogwarts when something had happened?

Why was he _here_?

"Ginny?"

Blinking quickly, Ginny dropped the letters on the table, paling slightly.

"Mum, why is he sending you these?" she asked.

Mrs. Weasley shrugged, picking up one of the letters.

"I asked him that and he didn't respond. He just sends updates."

"But _why_?"

Mrs. Weasley could see that this was bothering Ginny immensely and bit her lip.

"Ginny are you okay?"

Shaking her head, Ginny took a deep breath.

"I don't know anymore… Draco… he's acting strangely. He called Jason over to Hogwarts when Reilly had been attacked… He's… _not_ Draco…"

Ginny's mother pursed her lips.

"He was fine when you two were married," she commented.

Ginny's eyes widened and she shifted a little in her seat.

"Um… mum… I… I thought you liked Jason," she muttered.

"I do," Mrs. Weasley said matter-of-factly. "But that doesn't get rid of the fact that Draco Malfoy will always be important to me."

"To _you_?" Ginny repeated before looking around the kitchen. "I'm sorry, did I miss something? Since when was Draco Malfoy _important_ to you?"

Mrs. Weasley frowned.

"Ginny, this entire family knows how important Draco is. He saved you, or do you not remember that?" When Ginny didn't respond, her mother watched her carefully, noticing something she had not seen earlier. "Ginny, what's really bothering you about this?"

Ginny shook her head and stood up.

"Nothing, mum," she whispered. "Nothing's wrong with my ex-husband suddenly taking an unnatural interest in _my_ family."

Standing up, Mrs. Weasley followed Ginny to the front door, waiting as she put on her coat.

"He's a good man, Ginny."

She turned to her mother, disbelief in her eyes. This was not the first time she had encountered the unusual sentiment. She had talked to Percy earlier and he seemed okay with letting Draco teach Reilly.

"What is this? I thought you all hated Draco? Why is everyone suddenly okay with him?" she asked.

Mrs. Weasley took a deep breath and hugged her daughter tightly.

"Because, Ginny, we all remember how he saved my baby and gave up everything to marry you," she whispered before pulling away. "You're getting married to Jason, but it would behoove you not to forget the past so quickly."

* * *

Hermione smiled when she felt strong arms wrap around her waist and pull her back, grinning when warm lips began planting kisses on her neck.

"Where's Sara?" Ron asked quietly.

Hermione snorted and turned around to face him.

"Well, if you had stopped a moment to think, you would remember that she's over at Fleur's for a play date," she replied, snaking her arms around his neck and pulling him closer.

Kissing her quickly, Ron grinned and glanced around the kitchen.

"Hmmm… well, I wanted to see you first," he whispered.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she leaned in to kiss him, enjoying a moment of peace with her husband. However, when he began tugging at her shirt, she pulled away, shaking her head.

"I don't think so, love," she murmured with a grin. "You remember the last time we did that on your lunch break?"

Ron groaned pathetically and leaned his head in the crook of her neck, holding her close.

"That was three years ago, 'Mione," he complained. "What's wrong with one more child? Luna's having one."

She patted him on the head before puling away and walking out of the kitchen.

"I do want more children. I just don't want the first conception to be _exactly_ like the first one."

Ron raised an eyebrow and followed her up the stairs and into their bedroom.

"_Exactly _the same?"

Hermione glanced over her shoulder with a knowing look on her face.

"That's not what I meant, Ron," she said, rifling through a drawer and pulling out some clothes. She headed for the bathroom. "How was work?"

Ron walked over to the bathroom door and watched her take off her shirt and start the shower.

"Fine," he muttered, tilting his head to the side when she pulled off her jeans. "Beautiful."

Hermione looked over at him and blushed under his gaze.

"What?" she asked, straightening up and folding her arms over her chest.

Ron approached her with a lop-sided grin on his face that melted her heart. He placed his hands on her narrow waist and pulled her right up to him, catching the brief shock in her eyes at his boldness before biting her lip in anticipation.

"You're still on lunch break," she whispered.

Ron nodded as he reached down and pulled off his shirt, making Hermione grin and her eyes twinkle.

"Oh, believe me, this isn't going to be like last time," he murmured, kissing her passionately. Hermione groaned into his mouth and allowed him to back her up to the shower.

"Ron, your jeans are still on," she whispered.

"They'll come off eventually," he replied, making her laugh.

_Ding Dong!_

"Oh _bloody hell_," Ron growled in frustration while Hermione continued laughing.

"You should answer that," she giggled, pulling away from him and slipping into the shower. A couple of seconds later, her bra and knickers were tossed over the curtains, making Ron moan.

"_Hermione_," he complained. "Not fair."

Her face appeared from behind the curtains and grinned as the doorbell rang again. She pointed a wet finger at the door.

"Go get the door and perhaps you'll be able to see what's behind curtain number one for a change," she said before disappearing again.

Ron rolled his eyes and left, hurrying down the stairs to get the door. When he opened it, he was surprised to see his sister standing there. When she saw him, her eyes widened and she bit her lip to stop from laughing.

"I'm going to guess that Hermione's up in the shower?"

Ron looked down and realized he was still shirtless. Blushing violently, he swore at her and let her in before he went up stairs to get a shirt. Ginny waited in the living room and smiled when he came back down, shoving on a shirt.

"Hey big brother. How's life without sex?" she asked, suppressing the laughter.

"Ha ha, Ginny," he muttered, sitting down in the seat across from her. "Are you okay?"

His sister shrugged and looked down at her hands.

"I… I was just talking to mum," she whispered.

Ron snorted.

"Yeah, that seems like a good idea," he commented.

Ginny rolled her eyes at him and looked around the room.

"_Anyway,_ she seems to think that… I'm forgetting everything Draco's done for me and that I'm… _upset_ with him because everyone else is treating him like… _family_…"

Ron watched her carefully.

"Are you?"

Ginny looked at him.

"Am I what?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Are you forgetting everything Draco's done for you and hating him simply out of jealousy?"

"_Jealousy?!_" Ginny yelped, standing up and glaring at her brother. "You think I'm _jealous_? Of _what?_ The only reason _I'm_ upset is because he seems to think that my opinion doesn't matter and is teaching Reilly dangerous curses!"

Ron stood up as well, holding up his hands.

"Gin, calm down," he hissed, glancing up the stairs quickly before going over to her and sitting her back down. "Damn it, Ginny, I thought you said he didn't bother you."

"He doesn't," she hissed.

Ron raised an eyebrow that reminded Ginny too much of Draco.

"Are you sure? You seem a little bothered to me."

Ginny looked as if she wanted to hurt her brother, but after a moment she deflated and looked defeated.

"I… I… I just want to know why he's here, Ron," she whispered. "I mean… I know it's been a couple of months… but… if he were here for Greyback…"

Ron watched his sister for a while, trying to figure out what was really going on. He could see her struggling with coping with the fact that Draco had once again become an integral and unwanted part of her life again.

Perhaps it was the fact that Landon Greyback had not been found yet that was bugging her so much. Or perhaps it was the tension mounting as her wedding day came closer. While it was not for another few months, he knew how much pressure Ginny was under to make this count.

Disastrous relationships had been a major theme of hers for quite some time.

He reached out and took her hand, holding it closely.

"Gin, it's going to be okay," he whispered. "You don't have to worry about him and you sure as hell shouldn't be worried about Reilly. She has a whole lot of people at Hogwarts willing to protect her."

Ginny shrugged and offered up a weak smile.

"I just wish I knew what he was up to," she muttered.

They heard someone snort and saw Hermione coming down the stairs, drying her hair with her wand.

"Ginny, you of all people should know that trying to get into the mind of Draco Malfoy is a dangerous thing," she commented before sitting down across from them. "Besides, if you're so worried about him, why are you letting him teach Reilly?"

Ginny shifted in her seat and shrugged.

"McGonagall basically told me that the only way to get rid of Greyback was to let Draco teach Reilly."

"She said that?" Ron asked.

Ginny nodded.

"Yeah, along with basically saying that I have some unresolved issues with my arse of an ex-husband," she muttered.

Hermione and Ron exchanged looks before Hermione grinned and stood up.

"Oh, you _definitely_ don't have any unresolved issues with him," she commented as she walked into the kitchen.

Ginny let out a groan and placed her face in her hands.

"Oh _bloody hell_," she moaned. "What is _wrong_ with me? I'm getting married! I shouldn't be worried about Malfoy!"

Ron snorted and Ginny looked up at him. He shrugged and stood up as well.

"It's just… that's the first time you've called him Malfoy in a long time. It was nice."

"Ron," Hermione scolded, coming back to the door of the kitchen. "Look Ginny, I think McGonagall's right. You and Draco do have some unresolved issues…" After getting a look from Ron, she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Okay, you have _a lot_ of unresolved issues, but it's been a couple of months since he's come back and Jason doesn't seem to have a problem with him. You don't see him at all. From what I've heard from Dumbledore, Reilly's doing fine with Draco. What's wrong, Ginny?"

Ginny shook her head and stood up, grabbing her purse.

"Nothing," she muttered. "Nothing's wrong. I guess I'm just getting anxious since Reilly's friend hasn't been found yet." She pointed to the door. "I have to go… Jason's planning to take me out to dinner tonight and I have to finish some work before we go."

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked softly.

Ginny grinned.

"That little restaurant in London. You know, the one with the live music," she told them as she walked over to the door.

Hermione's eyes lit up.

"That Italian restaurant? Oh I _love_ that place! Ron took me there for our anniversary," she said. "It's really romantic."

Ginny leaned against the doorknob, a weird look on her face.

"Yeah… Jason was always romantic… Harry was oblivious… and Draco was…" Her eyes glazed over briefly.

_Draco moved so fast, she hardly knew what had happened until she found herself up against the wall, one of Draco's hands beneath the sheets and pulling dangerously on her panties while the other circled close to her breast, causing her eyes to widen and her breath to quicken._

"_I have no problem dragging you over to that bed and screwing you," he growled roughly into her ears, his voice sending shockwaves of unwanted pleasure down her spine. Ginny had to close her eyes for a moment to regain her composure as his hands teased her mercilessly. She reached down to remove his hand from her knickers, but that hand pinned hers to the wall while his other hand moved down to pull her hips closer to his, forcing another wave of bliss through her body._

A deep blush crept onto Ginny's face and she straightened up, opening the door.

"Passionate," she muttered. "I'll see you two Friday night?"

Hermione glanced over at Ron before nodding and offering a smile.

"Sure, Gin."

Ginny tried to smile, but it ended up being a grimace as she disapparated. Hermione closed the door and then looked over at Ron, concern written all over her face.

"Did you see that?" she asked quietly.

Ron leaned against the wall, a frown on his face.

"Of course I saw that," he muttered before turning to go get his briefcase. He then leaned in and kissed Hermione's cheek. "The last time I saw that face, we _still_ weren't having sex."

* * *

Rayne sighed and began drawing the small hairy creature that was growling at her on her table.

"You okay?" her friend Lisa asked, looking up from her rendering of the unpleasant beastie.

Shrugging, Rayne pointed across the clearing to where Nicholas was sitting with the rest of the Slytherins.

"He hasn't asked me to the Halloween Ball yet," she muttered.

Trent snorted.

"The Ball? You're sighing because you haven't been asked to a _Ball_?" he asked incredulously.

Rayne shifted in her seat.

"I'm not sighing because he hasn't _asked_ me. I'm sighing because he hasn't _mentioned_ the Ball at all," she replied irritably before poking the little creature to sit up straighter.

Lisa grinned.

"Maybe not to _you_," she commented.

Rayne sat up straight in her seat and leaned forward.

"He's talked to you?" she asked intensely.

Trent and Lisa exchanged looks before Lisa replied.

"He's not talking to you because one of your bodyguards caught you two snogging," she said.

Rayne's eyes widened.

"No one caught us!"

Lisa glanced over at Nicholas.

"Apparently someone did because Professor Malfoy approached him about it and he's a little… _scared_ to talk to you."

Trent burst out laughing but was quickly silenced when Hagrid lumbered up, observing his progress.

"Not much drawn down," he commented.

Rayne looked up at the giant and offered a smile.

"Sorry Hagrid," she whispered apologetically before shivering at a gust of wind. "It's really cold out here. Talking warms us up."

Hagrid smiled down at her and looked up at the sky.

"It's starting to snow," he said. "I suppose you all can go early."

Instantly, most of the students dispersed from the clearing, talking loudly and shoving each other around. Rayne, Trent and Lisa waved goodbye to Hagrid before they headed for the lake.

"Why must we go to the lake?" Trent complained, shivering. "It's bloody cold out here. And it's snowing!"

Lisa shoved him ahead of them, grinning.

"You're such a baby, Trent," she responded. "It's gorgeous out here!"

"It's _cold_."

Rayne rolled her eyes and looked around the lake, smiling when she caught sight of the giant squid gliding gracefully around the ice that was forming on the sparkling, mirror surface.

"I agree with Lisa," she whispered. "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"One of them."

The three Gryffindors turned around to see Nicholas standing close by, watching Rayne closely. Trent and Lisa exchanged glances and grinned before they began to back away.

"Umm… Rayne, we'll see you later, okay?" Lisa muttered.

Rayne nodded, waving as they walked away. She waited until they were out of sight before turning to Nicholas, who was looking around as if they were being watched.

"Waiting for one of my uncles to show up?" she asked curiously, tilting her head to the side expectantly.

A blush crept onto his face as he approached her.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about that," he mumbled. "I'm sorry about avoiding you. I'm just… trying to be careful."

"By avoiding me?"

Nicholas took hold of Rayne's gloved hands and offered an apologetic smile.

"Would it be better if I said that Professor Malfoy said he'd cut off my…" He winced and then looked around. "Cut off something _important_ if he or one of your uncles caught us snogging again."

Rayne raised an eyebrow, but said nothing else on the matter. Instead, she pulled away from him and began walking along the bank of the lake, slowing down only for Nicholas to catch up.

"So… the Halloween Ball?"

Nicholas reached out and took her hand.

"We're going, right?" he asked.

Rayne shrugged nonchalantly, avoiding his gaze.

"I don't know. You never asked."

"Oh _come on_, Rayne. I told you I was sorry about the whole avoiding you thing, but in my defense, Professor Malfoy is extremely intimidating."

Rayne sighed and turned to face him.

"Well then, are you going to ask me, or continue making excuses?"

Nicholas grinned and leaned into her.

"Will you go to the Ball with me?" he asked, kissing her softly on her trembling lips.

Rayne wrapped her arms around his neck and stepped closer, deepening the kiss briefly before pulling away and nodding.

"Of course. Why didn't you ask sooner?"

Nicholas rolled his eyes and kissed her again, smiling when she shivered against the flurry of snow that surrounded them. She released a muted yelp when his tongue found its way into her mouth and was about to lean into him when something distracted her and forced her to pull away again.

"Ugh! What is that smell?"

Leaning into her neck, Nicholas ignored whatever it was.

"Who cares?"

Rayne glanced around and caught sight of something under a bush.

"Nicholas, look," she whispered, pointing to it. He turned around and after close examination, pulled a face.

"Oh, that just ruined the mood," he muttered.

Lying under the bush was the half-eaten carcass of a deer. Its innards were hanging out and blood stained most of the snow surrounding it.

Biting her lip, Rayne began to back away.

"That's not funny, Nick," she whispered. "That's gross."

He tugged on her coat jokingly.

"Oh come on, Rayne. It's just a deer. It was probably left there by some wolf," he told her, leaning in to kiss her cheek.

Rayne hit his hand lightly, giving him a look.

"How could you still want to snog after seeing something like that?" she asked disgustedly.

Nicholas followed after her.

"I _don't_ want to snog. I'm just saying-"

"Oh my God…"

Rayne had stopped abruptly and was looking at the lake in complete shock. Nicholas frowned and looked around her.

"What? What is it?"

Rayne pointed to a large piece of ice in the middle of the lake. Nicholas looked and froze as well. Standing on the ice flow was a tall hulking man, holding something small in his arms. The man caught the looks of the two teenagers and grinned a full row of sharp bloody teeth, causing both of them to back away from the lake. However, instead of staying around to chat, the man dropped whatever he had in his arms and then disappeared into the water, leaving the limp body drifting on the ice.

"Nicholas… I think that's Reilly's friend… wait! Nicholas!" she screamed when he broke away from her and jumped into the water without another thought. "NICHOLAS!"

She watched him briefly climb onto an ice flow and begin hopping the ice before she took off for the castle.

**A/N: I am so sorry for the delay! School just took up a lot of my time and this is already such a difficult story to write. I hope you like it and I'll try to be a bit faster in updating (months faster)! School's out, so I'll definitely be able to do that! Thanks for bearing with me and I hope you like this one! R/R!**

**MaeSilverpaws1:** Sorry it took so long, but there is definitely more!

**HPandWEASLEYandDRACOlover:** I'm glad you like it so far! As for them getting back together, you'll just have to wait and see.

**Nextbestthing:** If you were waiting for that chapter forever, then this must have been an eternity! (They're the same thing, but eternity some how sounds longer) :-) We'll learn a bit more about Greyback later.

**Alsy:** A lot more of Ginny's inner turmoil in this chapter. I promise I'll try to show Draco in the next chapter.

**purplegabby123:** It is Draco's nature to get a rise out of Ginny, even if she's foaming at the mouth and ready to bite his head off. I think he likes the fact that even though he can't touch her, he still has some power over her. We'll learn more about Draco's motives a lot later in this story. At this point in the story, it wouldn't be appropriate to reveal them.

**Jenny:** I haven't fallen off the earth yet. I was just really busy. Somehow I managed to write this chapter in a matter of four days. Hopefully it's okay.

**snowfire81:** I've got to stop taking long breaks. I feel really bad for doing it.

**Wrenbailey:** I think Ginny's realizing that. I think she just doesn't want to share. However, Draco's going to take it upon himself to explain some things to the two before Ginny has anything to say about it.

**Sorry, no Chapter Tease, but I will update soon!**


	11. Back to the Basics Again

"_The best way of forgetting how you think you feel is to concentrate on what you know you know."_ **–Mary Stewart**

* * *

"What's with all that screaming?" Ron asked as he followed Moody and Dumbledore up the stairs. Snape was taking up the rear with Draco, who looked amused as the screams became more coherent.

"-could have DIED!"

"But-"

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

Draco snorted.

"Your niece's boyfriend was the one who recovered the boy from the lake. It seems that your niece wasn't exactly fond of his course of action."

They reached the doors to the Hospital Wing and caught sight of Rayne and Nicholas in the corner. Nicholas had a huge blanket around him and was shivering, but this did not seem to register in his screaming girlfriend's mind.

"Ms. Weasley, please refrain from making Mr. Kane feel like less of a man," Snape drawled as they passed the couple and entered the Hospital Wing.

Reilly and Charlie were already by Landon's bedside, watching Madame Pomfrey and McGonagall converse quietly while a couple of Slytherin boys hovered nearby, feigning interest in the puking third year curled up pathetically on the bed they were standing by. There were three older girls a few beds down, all of them fussing over what sounded like a contraceptive potion while another one sat crying on the floor.

"This school has issues, Albus," Moody muttered as they approached Landon's bed.

Ron held back a laugh, but held it in when he caught sight of Reilly and her friend. When she saw him, she got up and ran over to him, hugging her uncle tightly.

"Is he going to be okay?" she asked curiously.

Ron glanced over at Pomfrey who nodded and pointed at the sleeping boy.

"He should wake up in a couple of minutes," she said before turning to Dumbledore. "Surprisingly, Albus, the boy didn't sustain that many injuries, as far as I can see. He barely had a scratch on him."

"But they attacked him! We saw it!" Charlie cut in excitedly before a stern look from McGonagall silenced him. Satisfied, the Head of Gryffindor turned to Dumbledore.

"She did find some scars, Albus," she whispered. She caught sight of Charlie and Reilly watching her closely and frowned. "Perhaps we should discuss this outside?"

Draco snorted.

"Rayne's not exactly done ripping Kane apart," he told the woman.

Raising an eyebrow, McGonagall nodded and began to move towards the doors.

"Ah, I see. Well, I told your ward that Mr. Kane was already in enough trouble as it was for approaching the body without sufficient evidence that Greyback had indeed left. I think she should be done berating him by now," she said tersely, leading the way out.

"You could have been killed!"

"_Ms_. Weasley," McGonagall interrupted quickly, shooting the girl another look. "I suggested earlier that you return to your class. Now it's not a suggestion."

Rayne bit her lip, but after shooting Nicholas one last glare, she marched off down the stairs, muttering darkly to herself while her boyfriend took a deep breath.

"She must get that from you, Malfoy," Ron commented.

The blonde met Ron's gaze and raised an eyebrow.

"Funny, I thought she got it from your sister."

Instead of flaring up, as a couple of them thought he would do, Ron smirked and turned to Nicholas.

"Get back inside and have Pomfrey give you something to warm you up," he told the boy, waiting until the Slytherin had disappeared before turning to McGonagall and Pomfrey, like the others had. "You were saying, Professor?"

A ghost of a smile appeared on McGonagall's face at the acknowledgement as she addressed them.

"As I was saying before, she did find some scars. Mostly on the boy's chest and legs."

Dumbledore turned to the nurse.

"Poppy?"

The woman pursed her lips and glanced over at the door before speaking.

"Albus, there is no question that the boy was bitten. He has bite marks all over his neck and a couple on his arms," she told them.

Moody frowned.

"Wait. I thought you said the scars were on his chest and legs?"

Pomfrey nodded, concern evident all over her aging face.

"Yes. But those aren't from werewolves, Alastor. They're _self-inflicted_."

There was a momentary silence in which all of the stared at the nurse with nothing short of surprise on their faces.

"Self-inflicted?" Ron repeated. "You mean he did it to _himself_?"

"That's what self-inflicted means, Weasel," Draco muttered under his breath so that only Snape could hear, causing the professor to smirk while Dumbledore looked over at the infirmary doors.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

McGonagall nodded.

"We checked twice," she whispered. "Most of Landon Greyback's wounds were made by himself."

Dumbledore turned to Snape.

"You know what this means, right?"

Snape frowned. "Albus, we won't be able to use it this time," he said.

Draco looked over at the man.

"Use what?"

Ron smirked. "The Shrieking Shack," he responded somewhat bitterly, attracting Snape's attention. "Third year wasn't good to me."

Ignoring Ron, Moody turned to Dumbledore.

"What does the Shrieking Shack have to do with Greyback?"

Snape stepped forward.

"It was where Remus Lupin was placed during his… _transformations_, while he attended this school. Of course, since it was made a rather _public_ place during the war thanks to yours truly," Snape said, pointing to Ron. "We cannot use it in the event that Landon Greyback is a werewolf."

"In the event?" Moody repeated.

Pomfrey pointed to the doors.

"I sent a sample of Mr. Greyback's blood to St. Mungos for testing. I should be getting an owl in a matter of hours," she explained.

"Speaking of Remus, shouldn't we contact him, Albus," McGonagall suggested. "He's worked with the boy before. It might be helpful to bring him in again."

"Remus is out of town," Ron muttered darkly.

Moody turned to Ron.

"Where?"

A weird look came over the Weasley's face as he turned to walk away.

"Germany," he said over his shoulder before disappearing down the stairs.

"What's in Germany?" Madame Pomfrey asked curiously.

Draco glanced over at the nurse and snorted contemptuously before he and Snape turned to go back into the Hospital Wing.

"Potter," he sneered.

* * *

"So is he coming back as well?" Jason Conwell asked quietly as he took a sip of champagne.

Ginny glanced up at him from the pasta she was eating and shook her head.

"No… Harry hasn't come back in a while and he doesn't plan to anytime soon. Ron said that Remus was going to arrive tomorrow by himself," she replied before looking around the intimate, candle-lit restaurant they were currently sitting in. Soft music drifted high above the low chatter of those eating, giving the interior a romantic atmosphere. It was something Ginny had taken a while to become accustomed to after years of family dinners in the loud and more intimidating Burrow.

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"Who, Harry?"

Jason nodded and Ginny shrugged. "Three or four years," she told him. "I know he's been in London a lot since then, but it's usually Ron or Hermione who see him the most."

Jason frowned and reached out to take her hand.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I know how much he means to you."

A warm feeling flooded Ginny at his words and without thinking she leaned forward over the table and kissed him quickly on the lips.

"Thank you," she murmured gently before pulling away and sitting back down.

Jason tilted his head to the side and smiled comfortingly at her.

"You're welcome," he replied, causing her to laugh lightly and blush.

"Well… anyway," she mumbled, taking a sip of water to calm herself down. "That's all Ron told me."

"How's Reilly handling it all?"

Ginny shook her head again.

"Reilly doesn't know about Landon yet. Dumbledore doesn't want to tell her or Charlie until Remus speaks to Landon. He thinks that it's important for Landon to tell them himself."

Jason nodded understandingly and began eating again.

"I suppose that makes sense. It can't be too easy for the boy. His father's a psychopath and now the rest of his life has to revolve around a moon and all that entails," he whispered. "That's a lot to take in."

Nodding, Ginny sighed and thought over everything before she smiled and looked up at Jason.

"You know the boy who saved Landon?" she asked.

Jason nodded.

"Rayne's boyfriend, right?"

Ginny nodded quickly and motioned for him to lean in excitedly.

"Well, Ron told me that the two got into this huge fight because of it. Apparently, the boy jumped into the water without waiting for a professor and Rayne was afraid he could have been killed. She was _so_ mad that Ron says she was screaming at him even while he was shaking like a bloody leaf," she told him.

Jason grinned at the humor in Ginny's eyes and tapped his finger on her nose playfully.

"Sounds like you," he whispered and Ginny's eyes widened.

"Does not!" she protested.

Jason snorted and pointed at the door.

"Six months ago, we were almost robbed and I attacked the guy. You wouldn't speak to me for a week after that."

Ginny straightened in her seat and looked indignant.

"You could have been killed," she said as if that was an excuse.

"It's the _exact_ same thing, Ginny," he retorted with laughter in his voice.

"I didn't scream at you."

"You threw a pan at my head!"

Rolling her eyes, Ginny raised her hand to get their waiter's attention.

"Check please," she said before turning to Jason. "I think you're imagining things. You bumped into my cabinet and it _fell_ on your head."

Jason snorted and pointed at her purse.

"You used your wand."

Smiling, Ginny pointed right back at him.

"Well, then, you shouldn't have tried to be a hero," she whispered.

Jason took the receipt and placed some money inside the small black folder, handing it back to the waiter before looking at Ginny.

"I wasn't trying to be a hero. I was trying to protect you," he said, standing up and helping her put her coat on.

Ginny's mind flashed back to her years at Hogwarts briefly before she hit him with her purse and led the way out of the restaurant.

"I don't need you to protect me. I need you to live long enough to marry me," she responded, shivering when they walked out onto the snowy sidewalk. "Beautiful. It's snowing again."

Jason raised an eyebrow as he took her arm in his and led them down the small street. There were barely any pedestrians out and the only cars on the street were parked and abandoned, letting the couple walk uninterrupted.

"Point taken, but I need _you_ to live long enough for that to happen as well," he told her, making her smile and kiss him quickly on the cheek.

"Don't worry about me. I've got six older brothers. I want a husband," she replied. "And I want _you_ to be my husband."

Feeling her shiver beside him, he placed his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him, smiling when she sighed at the warmth he provided.

"I'll try to be a good one."

She looked up at him as they continued their way into a more populated part of London.

"You're off to a good start," she whispered.

"How so?"

She leaned up and kissed him under the chin before leaning her head down on his shoulder and sighing again.

"You're not related to a Malfoy," she said, making him laugh.

"I guessed that was a requirement when we first met," he commented, causing her to laugh as well.

"One of them."

"What was the other?"

Ginny stopped in front of a store and looked in, smiling at the little toys that danced and marched around the display merrily. She watched them for a little while before she glanced up at Jason with a loving smile on her face.

"I have to fall in love with you," she whispered, taking his hand and pulling him towards the store door. "Come on. I need to get something for my niece."

"Which niece?" he asked coyly and she gave him a knowing look.

"Charlie's daughter, you twit," she replied with a grin. "Her birthday's tomorrow."

Jason followed her in, but before she could go to any of the shelves, he pulled her to him and kissed her amorously on the lips, smiling when she sighed into him and held him close. When he finally pulled away, he leaned into her ear.

"I love you too," he whispered. She turned to look him in the eye and smiled, kissing him again before she turned to look at some of the toys.

"Well then, lover boy, find a gift," she ordered humorously.

Jason saluted her mockingly and then marched around the store, making her and a couple of other customers laugh.

"As you wish, my liege," he barked adoringly.

* * *

"You're sure he's a werewolf?"

"That's what the note says," Blaise muttered, sitting up in bed and rereading the letter he had just received. Luna frowned and sat up as well, pulling the sheets up to her bare chest and leaning in to read the letter as well.

"That's _all_ the letter says," she whispered. "At least he wasn't killed."

"At least? Turning into a werewolf isn't exactly easy. He probably would have preferred to die."

Luna looked up at Blaise.

"I've seen Greyback kill people, Blaise," she murmured. "Every single one of them begged him to stop."

Blaise tilted his head to the side and smirked.

"You're sexy when you're unpleasant," he commented.

"Ugh! I really didn't need to hear that."

The two turned to see Draco Malfoy standing at the door, watching them in disgust. Luna's entire face went completely red while Blaise reached for his wand.

"Get the hell out of here!" he roared angrily and Draco snorted, disappearing into the hall.

Ten minutes later, Draco was greeted with the sight of the fully clothed couple. Luna's face was still burning from embarrassment, but Blaise just looked pissed at being interrupted from a romp with his wife.

"What do you want?" the man asked irritably while he and Luna sat down in their living room.

"Landon Greyback's a werewolf."

Blaise's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Yeah, I got that from your letter. You interrupted me because you feel the need to _repeat_ yourself?"

It was only because of Blaise's unwavering loyalty and his interest in Luna that Draco didn't kill the man right there and then.

"They're bringing in Lupin," he went on to say without acknowledging the insubordination.

"Is it really that serious?" Luna asked.

"It will be," Draco muttered. "With a werewolf on site, Dumbledore will be forced to take down the protections the Ministry set up after Greyback attacked earlier."

"If there were protections up, how did Greyback and his son get back on campus?" Luna asked.

Draco sat up straighter in his chair.

"They were on the other side of the protections. By the time Kane had gotten to the boy, Rayne had managed to get to Dumbledore and he had taken down the protections to bring in the boy. The Aurors put them back up after Moody was reached."

"So what do you want, Draco?" Blaise asked.

"Security."

"In Hogsmeade?"

Draco nodded.

"The Ministry is too far away and with the boy back, the Aurors will be leaving. I need you close."

"Greyback won't come back that quickly."

Draco shook his head.

"No, but if he's as predictable as Lucius was, he'll attack during the Halloween Ball," he responded, glancing over at Luna, who had paled at the mention of that night.

Blaise watched Draco carefully for a minute before speaking.

"Who are you trying to protect this time, Draco?" he asked. "Because this time, I'd prefer not to be left out in the snow for God knows how long, bleeding from every orifice."

Draco raised an eyebrow and turned to Luna.

"Does not having sex make him snippy?"

Luna stood up and shot a look at Blaise before she headed back to the bedroom.

"I wouldn't know anything about that," she muttered. They watched her disappear before turning to each other.

"Who is it, Draco?" Blaise asked again.

Leaning back in his chair, the blonde's eyes wandered out the window, watching the snow fall and knowing that she was out there somewhere. Probably with that prick, Jason Conwell…

"All of them," he heard himself whisper.

Blaise snorted at the statement.

"You should get an award, Draco," he commented.

"For what?"

"For being a big hypocrite and having an even bigger ego," Blaise muttered before getting up and walking towards the bedroom. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see if my _pregnant_ wife is still in the mood for a round or two."

"You two are incorrigible," Draco sneered and Blaise turned slightly to face.

"Us? You and Weasley shagged in more places at Hogwarts than I care to remember finding you in and then some," he muttered, shuddering at the thought. Shaking his head, he left Draco in the living room with a smirk on his face. "Rabbits, you two were."

Draco walked over to the window and looked out to the other buildings that made up London. He could see the people moving down below and unwavering lights filled his vision with high steeples and gusting snow.

He hated London.

It was too busy.

Too bright.

Smirking, his mind wandered to past memories of the city, one in particular coming to mind at the Ministry coinciding with Blaise's previous observation about Draco and his ex-wife.

It was a good memory…

**A/N: Yes, yes, it has come. We will be delving into the lives of Ginny and Draco **_**before**_** they split up. **_**No**_**, not all of them will be as juicy as you all probably know the first one will be. But there will be memories. Not just from Draco and Ginny either. **

**I know this was a little shorter than the last one and with not nearly as much as you had hoped, but I promise you'll love the next chapter. Especially if you can already guess what's going to happen. **

**If you can't, don't worry, it'll be good. **

**The Darkest wizard: **We'll see some of Landon in the next chapter, but a lot of it is going to focus on Draco's memory, depending on how long I make the chapter.

**Alsy: **It was Greyback and yes Nicholas _was _stupid. I was actually a little surprised when the idea popped into my head, but then it made sense. Why would the Weasleys _really_ hate Draco? Besides the little kiss, they had no reason to hate Draco. He helped them more than they can ever repay. I'll keep brainstorming though!

**Darkroses2992:** I'm glad you like the change!

**Purplegabby123: **:-) I think we all can't, but for now, I'll just give you insights into when Draco _could_ touch Ginny.

**Nextbestthing: **Personally, I hate cliffhangers, but I use them because I don't know what else to write at the moment. That seemed like an appropriate place to stop. I'm definitely taking you up on that offer and I hope everything is okay on your end! Thanks! I'm glad you liked the Blaise and Luna parts. As for the quotes, I just go to Google and type in "quotes for (whatever general idea the chapter happens to encompass)" ex. Regret, memories, love, etc. World of Quotes is the one I usually like to pick after I type that other stuff in. I'm almost done with the next chapter, so keep your eyes open.

**Tamara72: **Now we're going to see where all of Ginny's turmoil and the sexual tension between her and Draco are coming from. I'm sorry I didn't put as much Blaise and Luna as you probably hoped for. I'll try to do a bit more in the next couple of chapters. Draco barging in on them just seemed like a good idea at the time. :-)

**LovingEmerald: **Be careful what you wish for. You might get what you want.

**ToraNoKo123:** I'll try to update as quickly as possible.

**Again no Chapter tease, but as you can see, I'm updating as fast as I can, so… **

**R/R!**


	12. Things We'd Rather Forget

_A memory is what is left when something happens and does not completely unhappen._ **-Edward de Bono**

* * *

"_Why exactly are we here?" Ginny asked irritably as a couple of Aurors led her and Draco to the elevators. _

"_The Minister of Magic needs to speak to Mr. Malfoy," one answered curtly. _

_The answer did not please Ginny. _

"_Then why the hell am I here? If you want to arrest Draco, then arrest him, but don't wake me up," she snapped angrily, making the guards glance over at Draco, who smirked. _

"_On the inside, she really does care about me," he told them as they headed up to the Minister's office._

"_I'll care about you more if you can stop attracting Ministry attention."_

"_I'm too good looking."_

_Ginny rolled her eyes and pulled a face. _

"_You're an arse," she muttered before turning to the guard. "Do I _really_ have to be here?"_

_The Auror nodded and when the elevator doors opened, he led the way down to the Minister's office, followed by two uncooperative teenagers. _

"_Ah! Draco Malfoy! It's so good of you to come," the Minister of Magic greeted with a fake smile plastered on his face. _

_Ginny sat down quickly while Draco took the time to examine his surroundings. _

"_It's always my pleasure to get up at three in the morning and pay you a visit. I'm sure Dumbledore will be down here soon to figure out why you removed a pregnant woman from her bed in the middle of the night."_

_The Minister's eyes flickered to Ginny briefly before he started speaking. _

"_Do you have any idea why you're here?"_

"_To piss him off?" Ginny asked lazily, too angry about the circumstances to care who she was talking to._

"_I'd watch my tongue, Mrs. Malfoy," the Minister snapped before continuing. "Anyway, it has come to my attention that several of your cronies have been going in and out of the Auror Department with very sensitive information."_

_Ginny glanced over at Draco, watching him as he leaned back in his chair and shrugged. _

"_I wouldn't know anything about that."_

"_Several files are missing from the department."_

"_Then why isn't Moody talking to me about this?" Draco asked irritably. _

"_Moody does not know what is in those files. Now, tell me where they-"_

_A knock on the door interrupted the Minister and an Auror poked his head into the room. _

"_You told me to tell you when Albus Dumbledore had arrived," the man whispered and Draco snorted. _

"_Told you."_

_The Minister's face went red and turned to Draco. _

"_I'll be getting back to you in a couple of minutes."_

_Without another word, he got up and left the room. _

"_Wait!" Ginny snapped. "Can we-" The door slammed shut and she rolled her eyes. "Never mind." _

_Folding her arms across her chest, she sat ruefully in her seat, glaring at the ground. Draco smirked at her and leaned over in his seat. _

"_What are you so upset about?"_

_Shooting him a nasty look, she got up and walked over to the window. _

"_I'm _tired_, Draco. I want to go to _sleep_. Why the hell do you think I'm upset?" she asked before glancing over to him. "What did you steal anyway?"_

"_Something insignificant."_

"_If it was insignificant, we wouldn't be here, Draco."_

_Rolling his eyes, Draco began examining his fingernails disdainfully. _

"_I never said they were insignificant to _him_. Just to me."_

"_What could be so important that they had to wake us up in the middle of the night?"_

"_You'll have to ask the Minister," he responded coolly. _

_Ginny rolled her eyes and turned back to the window in anger. _

"_Prick," she muttered bitterly under her breath._

_Draco watched her for a moment before he began looking around the room, a thought coming to his head as he took in her rounded frame. _

"_You know. The last time the Minister told me he'd get back to me in a couple of minutes, it was more like three hours," he commented smoothly. _

"_So?"_

_Getting up, he walked over to where she was standing and wrapped his arms around her small waist, leaning into her neck and kissing her skin lightly. _

"_So, that gives us plenty of time to pick up where we left off last night," he murmured. _

_Ginny's eyes widened and she turned around in his arms. _

"_Draco, we are _not_ having sex in the Minister of Magic's _office_," she hissed, pushing him away and going to sit back down. "I can't believe you would suggest such a thing."_

"_We've got nothing to do for a couple of hours and there is a perfectly good couch over there just screaming for your perfectly defined arse and my perfectly defined-"_

"Draco!_" Ginny snapped, horrified at what he was about to say. "We _are not_ having sex on the couch."_

_Draco strolled over to the back of her chair and leaned into her ear. _

"_Well, if you prefer the _desk_, I'm sure that would be fine," he whispered huskily, causing her to shiver slightly before she turned to face him. _

"_No," she told him firmly and then turned to face the desk. However, her resolve began to weaken when he started kissing her neck seductively. In an attempt to gain some sense of control, she stood up and moved to the other side of the desk. "I said no."_

_Draco leaned forward over the desk so that their faces were a hairsbreadth apart. "We have time," he said, smiling broadly._

_Ginny motioned around the room. _

"_There are probably cameras in here," she hissed. "And guards outside!"_

_Smirking, he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers slowly, chuckling when she gasped at the action. _

"_You've never imagined having sex in the Minister's office?"_

_Ginny narrowed her eyes. _

"_I've never imagined having sex inside the Ministry of Magic, you randy bastard," she retorted before frowning. "Wait… have you?"_

"_Have I what?"_

"_Had sex here?" she asked hesitantly. _

_Draco shook his head. "Not in _here_," he responded, pointing to the room. "But I have had sex in the Ministry of Magic." After catching the disgusted look in her eyes, he rolled his own grey eyes and pointed behind him at the door. "I was brought in with… well, I don't remember her name, but we were locked in one of the interrogation rooms and I was bored so-"_

_Ginny placed a finger to his lips. _

"_I don't want to hear anymore," she hissed before she moved to sit back down. Draco intercepted her and held her firmly against him, smirking at her attempt to get away. "Draco, I said no already. They could come in at any moment!"_

_His lips attached themselves to her neck while his hands unzipped her coat and shoved it off her shoulders. _

"_We have at least two hours, Ginny," he growled, undoing the robe she had been wearing under her coat. _

"_Draco," she whimpered, grabbing his arms and pulling away a little. "The door."_

_Smirking, he pulled out his wand and pointed it to the door. A soft click calmed Ginny's fears, but then another thought filled her head and she pulled away again. _

"_Thirty minutes," she hissed with a pointed look on her face. _

_Shrugging, Draco lifted her up onto the desk and began removing the rest of her clothing while she started working on his. _

"_Fine," he muttered, looking her dead in the eyes. "We're just going to have to cut down on the foreplay."_

"_Draco!" Ginny laughed before their lips met and her mind lost all sense of decorum and her body went into overdrive._

Draco walked past the Hogwarts gates and up the path towards the castle, smirking at the memory.

They had actually spent three hours in that office before the Minister had come back, giving them time to reassemble most of what they had broken in their over enthusiasm to take advantage of the moment. When the Minister had entered the room with Dumbledore, Ginny had yet to fix her wild hair while Draco was lounging on the couch with satisfaction written all over his face as well as a long thin scratch on his cheek. Ginny looked exhausted.

While no one else, besides probably Dumbledore, figured out what had happened in the office, Ginny had refused to do anything like that again.

Draco remembered how long that had lasted.

Two days later, Blaise and Rockwell had walked in on them in the Astronomy Tower and after that, Ginny had given up on trying to be discreet.

"There you are."

Draco had just reached the large doors of Hogwarts castle and was amused to find Snape waiting for him.

"How long have you been out here?" Draco asked as they went inside.

"Since you arrived at the gates. How did your meeting with Blaise go?"

"Pleasant," Draco replied. "The former Ms. Lovegood is pregnant."

Snape's eyes widened.

"I thought Blaise didn't want any children?"

"He doesn't."

"Ah… so will he kill her now or later?"

Draco laughed and shook his head.

"He's warming up to the idea."

"So he'll help."

Draco stopped and turned to his mentor, his eyes darkening by the second.

"We'll see what Lupin has to say."

* * *

Whispering…

A lot of whispering…

Were they talking about him?

Were they plotting against him?

Would they kill him?

Would they-

_STOP!_

Paranoia… baseless or excessive suspicion of the motives of others… to say the least…

But where had it come from?

Scratching… something was scratching…

In the walls? A rat?

No… too small… a mouse… but maybe… a small rat?

He could hear it…

The small heart beating fearfully against its ribcage as if it knew death was near…

What was it waiting for?

Him?

Whispering…

Again with the whispering…

But it was getting closer…

_They're coming after you._

_They're going to kill you!_

_You need to get away!_

Landon jolted up in bed, panting furiously and looking around wildly, trying to find the source of the voice…

Instantly his eyes took in his surroundings, counting each window and then searching for the easiest exit…

The double doors…

Those large double doors…

_Once you pass them, you only need to make it down the stairs, through the halls and out the front door. They can't harm you then. You'll be safe in the woods…_

_The woods are safety._

_They'll hunt, but they'll never find you._

_You're too fast._

_Too smart._

_Too strong._

_They can't keep up-_

"Landon!"

He turned to see Charlie and Reilly running over to him, concern on both their faces. Landon's brain immediately began calculating their threat level as he pulled away from Reilly, who had reached the bed first.

"Are you okay? You look a lot better than you did yesterday," Charlie commented, sitting down in the chair nearby while Reilly took up a spot on Landon's bed.

Yesterday…

Yesterday…

Of course!

He had woken up yesterday…

They had not been a threat then either, though his response to their arrival had been a bit more violent.

_Forget yesterday. The door. It's open now. Escaping will be easier. Just get past Charlie and bolt for the doors. _

"Landon, are you okay?" Reilly asked. "You're still pale."

_Calm down. Calm down!_

Landon coughed a little before he sat up in his bed and nodded.

"Yeah… I'm fine… bad dream…"

"About your dad?" Charlie asked curiously, earning him a disapproving look from Reilly. "What?"

Landon glanced between the two before he looked over at the doors again.

"Um… I don't remember…"

Reilly reached out and took his hand.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

Before he could answer, Dumbledore, Snape and Remus Lupin came through the doors. Remus immediately identified the anxiety that coursed through Landon when the doors shut. He could see the demon within the boy eyeing them suspiciously and slowed down to talk to Dumbledore before they approached the three first years.

"He hasn't been changed for long, Albus," he whispered as quietly as possible, aware that Landon would be listening unintentionally.

"What is the timeline?"

"Three or four days," Remus replied. "He's still not aware of what he is yet."

"That's what you're here for," Snape drawled, attracting their attention.

The two men stared at each other for a moment before they turned to the boy.

Landon was trying to pay attention to his friends, who were chattering incessantly about what had happened while he had been gone, but when Remus started approaching, the young boy could not help but feel uneasy about it.

There was something about the man that threatened him. Perhaps it was the scars on his face… or just the way he walked or-

_He's one of you! He's exactly like you! He's come to kill you! You've invaded his area and he's come to kill you! Run! Flee! Flee! Flee!_

Landon actually made it to the door before Remus caught up with him and slammed him into the wall, holding him forcefully against the brick while the boy began flailing around like a… well a wild animal…

"What are you doing?!" Reilly screamed.

"Let him go!" Charlie protested.

Both Gryffindors were about to come to the aide of their friend when Dumbledore stepped in front of them and offered each child a comforting smile.

"I think it's time we left. You two shall come up to my office," he suggested, herding them past Landon, who was now starting to curse at Remus.

"But Landon," Charlie started to protest. Snape came up behind Dumbledore with a silencing look in his eyes and before either one of them could utter another word, they were ushered out of the Hospital Wing.

"LET GO OF ME!" the boy snarled, kicking Remus violently in the legs. "LET GO!"

"Calm down, Landon," Remus whispered.

"YOU CAN'T KILL ME! LET GO!"

"Calm down."

"NO!"

"_Calm down_," Remus hissed in a deep threatening voice he had not used for ages. He never wanted to use it again.

It did, however, do the trick and Landon immediately went limp, looking completely petrified.

Taking a deep breath, Remus stepped away from Landon just when Madame Pomfrey stepped out of her office.

"What is going on here?" she asked before catching sight of Landon, who had slid to the ground and was deathly pale. "What happened?!"

"Go back inside," Remus whispered. "I have things under control."

"But-"

Remus looked over at her and she instantly saw what was hidden within his eyes. Frowning, she nodded silently and walked back into her office, shutting and locking the door behind her. Remus then turned back to Landon, who was now staring up at Remus with a mixture of awe and fear in his poor eyes.

"What happened to me?" he asked shakily. "What's wrong with me?"

* * *

If she had not been in such a rush, she would have never seen it.

How long it had been resting in her closet, she did not know, but what she did know was that she would have to get rid of it…

Eventually…

Ginny bit her lip and set the small box down on her coffee table, glancing around the room as if expecting someone to jump out from a corner and say 'aha!'

But no…

No one jumped out… but her conscience did pick that moment to become aware of itself and berate her for keeping the silly box around.

It was bad enough without the box.

Ignoring the better judgment of her reacquainted conscience, Ginny opened the box and took out the few pictures that were there.

How could she have forgotten about them?

These twelve photographs chronicled her short-lived marriage to Draco Malfoy as well as her extremely long pregnancy.

It was a surprise that there were that many left.

Draco had taken it upon himself to destroy most of them after she had arrived at the hospital all those years ago.

Biting her lip, she stopped at one particular picture that was taken a few days after she and Draco had 'married'. They were standing in Hogsmeade, staring inside a clothing store while someone else took the photo. They had not been doing anything special, nor had Draco been especially helpful that entire day. He just trailed behind Ginny and her friends, uninterested and completely unpleasant. The picture was of the only time that day in which Draco had made the slightest effort to point out that one of the outfits would look well on Ginny. What the photo did not capture was that Draco happened to be pointing to an extremely risqué piece of lingerie.

"_Ugh, I can't even look at him right now," Ginny muttered, sitting down at a booth in the Three Broomsticks with Luna and Hermione while Draco sat at the bar, smirking to himself. _

"_He's been that way since you two got married," Hermione pointed out. _

"_That's because he hasn't gotten anything," Ginny grumbled before turning completely red and sinking down into her seat while the other two stared at her in shock. _

"_Really?" Luna asked. "You two haven't…"_

_Ginny shook her head, glancing over at Draco quickly before she sunk lower in her seat. _

"_No, and it even isn't my fault," she hissed irritably. "The first night he sort of just left the room, like he had to do something. I found him sleeping on the couch!"_

"_You mean _he's_ avoiding it?" Hermione asked disbelievingly. "Are you sure you didn't say something?"_

_Ginny's eyes widened. _

"_Say something? I don't _have_ to say something. I got out of the shower the other day while he was brushing his teeth," she told them. "You want to know what he did? He got all weird and then left."_

"_Perhaps he's afraid," Hermione suggested._

_Luna snorted, "Afraid? Of what, having sex? He's done it _tons_ of times-"_

"Thank you, _Luna," Ginny cut in, sitting up straighter in her seat. "I really don't need to hear that again."_

_Hermione shifted in her seat. _

"_Well, it's true. What does he have to be afraid of?"_

"_Hurting Ginny," Luna answered, looking over the menu as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. _

_Hermione and Ginny stared at her for a moment before exchanging glances. _

"_Hurting me," Ginny repeated slowly before she bit her lip and looked over at Draco, who was now chatting quite charmingly with a blonde, giggling girl. "Oh yes, he looks like he's afraid of hurting me."_

_Hermione looked over at the bar before she turned to Ginny. _

"_Oh ignore him, Ginny. He's just being mean. Besides, I think Luna has a point."_

"_What point?"_

"_That Draco's afraid of hurting you because of what his father did. If the rumors that have gone around over the past few years are true, then Draco's… _aggressive_, to say the least. He's probably afraid of making you think of his father."_

_Ginny frowned. _

"_That does not sound like Draco at all. He doesn't get afraid."_

"_Draco also doesn't fall in love with a Weasley and then put off having sex for more than one day," Luna pointed out dreamily. _

"_Point taken," Ginny muttered before placing her face in her hands and groaning. "Ugh, you know what this means, right?"_

"_What?" Hermione asked. _

_Ginny looked up at her pathetically. _

"_I want to have sex with him just as much as he wants to have sex with me," she moaned, making the girls laugh and attracting Draco's attention. _

Biting her lip, Ginny set down the picture and looked out the window, remembering everything that followed that day.

"Oh bloody hell," she muttered. She turned around and grabbed the pictures off the table, shoving them into the box quickly and putting the box under the couch. Taking a deep breath, she then grabbed her purse and walked out the front door, all the while trying to stop the memory of that first night from coming back again…

At the same time, many miles away, Draco was going through his pensive, trying to find the exact same memory…

_Ginny sat down at the Gryffindor table, grabbing a roll and looking around for Luna. It was three days since the last picture had been taken and no change had occurred. Draco was still avoiding her and it was starting to get annoying. _

"_Blaise ushered her out few minutes ago," Harry stated knowingly. _

_Biting her lip, Ginny looked down at her empty plate and sighed. _

"_I wanted to talk to her," she replied. _

"_About what?" Harry asked curiously._

_A blush slowly crept onto Ginny's face, but she was saved answering the question by Hermione and Ron walking in. Ron sat down beside his sister and eyed her carefully. _

"_Are you okay?" he asked._

_Ginny nodded. _

"_Yeah… just tired. I haven't been sleeping much lately."_

"_Why not?" Hermione asked. _

_Ginny looked over at her. _

"_Draco and his friends stay up all night," she told them._

_Ron glanced over at the Slytherin table quickly, spotting Draco and Valance further down. _

"_Perhaps I should talk to him," he suggested. _

_Ginny smiled and shook her head_

"_No, it's fine. I'll deal with it. He's been acting that way since… well, you know," she muttered. _

"_Since you got married?" Harry asked. _

_Ginny shot him a look. _

"_Yes, Harry," she gritted out before turning to Hermione. "Where were you two?"_

_Ron rolled his eyes. _

"_The library. Hermione made me finish my essay before I could come to dinner," he grumbled. _

_Hermione smiled. _

"_He didn't finish his essay."_

_Harry placed his fingers to his ears. _

"_I really don't need to know that," he muttered. "Can we talk about something else?"_

_Ignoring his friend, Ron started watching Draco suspiciously. _

"_Have any of you noticed that Malfoy's acting strangely?"_

_Hermione raised an eyebrow. _

"_Strangely?"_

_Ron shot her a look. _

"_You know what I mean," he snapped. "He hasn't insulted a single Gryffindor for a while. He's different."_

_Hermione glanced over at Ginny. _

"_Well, considering what happened to Ginny-"_

_Ron rolled his eyes. _

"_Oh come on, Hermione. He acted like an arse even _after_ he found out that Ginny was pregnant," he said before looking at Ginny. "Sorry."_

_Ginny shook her head. _

"_No… it's okay, I don't mind you insulting my husband," she muttered. _

_Harry observed her carefully before looking over at Draco as well. _

"_I wonder what's wrong with him."_

_Ginny bit her lip and returned to her food. _

"_What makes you think that there's something wrong?"_

_Ron snorted. _

"_The fact that he's acting like a Hufflepuff might hint at something," he responded cheekily, however the smirk on his face was quickly erased when Hermione shot him a withering glare. After seeing that Ron had no intention of speaking again, Hermione sat up straighter in her seat and looked over at Ginny._

"_Um… anyway, I think what Ron is trying to say is that Draco isn't exactly acting like himself and it's making some people nervous."_

"_Why?"_

_Harry looked up. _

"_Because, someone like Malfoy doesn't remain passive for long," he said quietly, attracting Ginny's attention. They stared at each other for a moment before Harry looked back down at his dinner._

"_Where's he going?"_

_They all turned to Ginny, who was watching Draco leave the Great Hall with an unsettled expression on his face. Before they could stop her, she got up and walked out as well._

_However, when she got outside of the Hall, she lost sight of him. _

"_Draco," she called, hurrying down the halls as quickly as possible. "Draco."_

_No response. _

Perhaps he went back to the room_, she thought. Biting her lip, she diverted her path to the Head Boy's room. _

"_Fleshsnipers," she muttered, waiting for the snake painting to swing back and then entering cautiously. "Draco? Where are you?" When she received no answer, she looked around the large common room before she headed up the stairs. "Draco? Where are you?"_

_Catching sight of Judas, she walked over to the desk and stroked the bird's feathers gently. _

"_Hey, boy," she whispered. "Where is he?" _

_Judas hooted quietly and turned his large eyes to the door she had just come through. Frowning, Ginny moved back to the door and looked down into the common room to see Draco standing by the fireplace, glaring at the flames. _

"_I haven't seen you all day," she said as she came down the stairs and walked over to him. When he did not say a word, she stopped in front of him and observed his face carefully, not that there was anything to see. She offered him a smile and tilted her head to the side. "You know, you're making everyone nervous."_

_Finally, he tore his eyes away from the fire and looked at her, mild curiosity on his sharp features. _

"_How's that?"_

_Ginny shrugged. _

"_My brother thinks you're acting strange," she said. _

_Grunting, he returned to staring at the fireplace. _

"_Your brother's an arse."_

"_Funny, he said the same thing about you," she retorted quickly, drawing his attention. "What _is_ wrong with you?"_

"_You think something's wrong with me?"_

_Ginny straightened up and placed her body flush up against his, staring him straight in the eyes. _

"_Well, I've been naked in your bathroom at least twice everyday for the past week and you haven't taken advantage of that yet," she whispered, her eyes traveling briefly down to his pants before she looked up at him again. "Either there's something wrong with you or the whole married thing hasn't registered with you yet."_

_Draco's startling grey eyes looked over her face, taking in the obvious intention in her eyes and the less subtle trembling of her lips as he leaned in. _

"_There's nothing wrong with me and I am _fully_ aware of the fact that I am now unfortunately married to you," he murmured before pulling away. _

_Ginny frowned. _

"_Then what's wrong?"_

_Draco smirked and walked over to the couch, sitting down and observing her. _

"_Did it ever occur to you, the Mudblood and _Loony_ that I just might not want to have sex with you?" he asked curiously. _

_Ginny tilted her head to the side and leaned against the wall, a smile on her face. _

"_It occurred to me. But then I remembered that's not your problem. You're just afraid."_

"_Of what?"_

_Ginny shrugged, walking over to him and getting on the couch, effectively straddling him. _

"_Well… over the past few years that I've been here at Hogwarts, my innocent ears have heard all about Draco Malfoy's exploits. How _calculating_ he is… how passionate he is…" She leaned into his ear as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "And how _aggressive_ he is."_

_Draco pulled her away from him to look into her face and she saw it again. The urge… the unadulterated primal urge that coursed through his eyes and sent hot liquid surging down her spine to every nerve-ending. This feeling was further escalated when one of his hands slipped under her skirt ran possessively over her bare thigh, pulling her closer as their eyes continued to clash violently. Ginny's breathing suddenly began to quicken and her mind hazed momentarily as her proximity with Draco had a new meaning._

_But there was still doubt…_

_Not in her, but in him… she could see it pulsating in his eyes and even in his hands._

_She could feel the hesitation and knew that the only thing revolving in his head was that moment in the woods…_

_Suddenly Ginny couldn't breathe. A vice had taken a hold of her chest and was crushing it while her heart swelled at the sight of him._

_Everything she had felt in the past months climaxed and tears began pouring out of her eyes unchecked as her revelation overwhelmed her. _

"_Oh my God," she gasped, reaching out and taking his face in her hands. "You are human…"_

_Ginny was barely able to contemplate what was going on when Draco reached up and grabbed her head, bringing it down to his in a bruising kiss that threw every single inhibition out the door. Before she could even react, he had somehow managed to remove both of their shirts and was clutching her close to him, his hands moving desperately over her body with a determination she had never felt but yearned for. _

_Feeling him groan with want, her entire body surged with ecstasy at the new found power she suddenly had over him. Their tongues sparred viciously and their hands roamed aggressively, searching blindly for every inch of burning skin they could find. All uncertainty was out the window by this point, leaving the couple with nothing but the impending climax of what they had worked so hard to avoid since September. _

_The hand on Ginny's thigh was driving her out of her mind. It was moving quickly up her leg, making it harder for her to breathe as his other hand moved expertly up her back to her bra. Moving away from her lips, Draco found his way down to her neck and collarbone, growling into her lithe, succulent skin when she began moaning for him to continue. However, it was the hands that tugged at his pants hem that forced him to momentarily stall his assault on her bra to deal with her obstacle._

_Knowing that getting rid of his pants while sitting down was not an option, Draco forced Ginny off of him to stand up. Understanding what he was doing, she waited eagerly for him to get up before she latched her lips to his fiercely while her hands zealously fumbled around with his belt buckle, a groan of frustration escaping her lips when it did not come off as quickly as she would have liked. Smirking at her annoyance, he leaned into her ear while pulling her hips right up against his to show her just how much he appreciated her enthusiasm. _

"_Getting impatient?" he asked huskily, growing more aroused when she shuddered against him. _

"_Yes," she gasped longingly, her hands still tugging on his pants. "Now shut up."_

_Willing to oblige, Draco finished what she had started and freed himself from his pants, pushing her back a little so he could step out of them and deal with her apparel and the other tantalizing option of deciding whether or not to go up to the bed and all that entailed or go back to the couch._

_While going up to the bedroom was extremely tempting and would probably be more comfortable for Ginny, the way she was groaning and pushing up against him was weakening his will to take her up the stairs. _

_Surprisingly, Ginny was thinking the exact same thing and to his pleasure she shoved him back down onto the couch, placing her knees on either side of his hips and pushing herself up against him, deepening the kiss. She then proceeded to unzip her skirt and pulled it off, dropping it on the floor behind the couch before she pulled away from Draco to look him in the eyes, panting heavily as she leaned her forehead against his. She watched his eyes rove over her body quickly before landing on her bruised lips._

_The look in his eyes made her tremble with desire as she ran a hand down his face. _

"_Please," she murmured, closing her eyes briefly when he ran his hands up her back, forcing another groan out of her. "Draco…"_

_Smirking, he undid her bra and pulled it off quickly, leaning back to admire her for the first time without having to worry about comments from his recently deceased parents._

_Unfortunately for him, the girl was perfect…_

_Every single scar… every blemish of skin… all of those loathsome freckles that covered her creamy soft skin… her stomach… her breasts…_

_All of it added up to perfection._

_Something he had never seen._

_Even in Pansy, who had removed all faults from every part of her body to the point that she had looked and felt fake… plastic… _

_For the first time in his life, Draco felt threatened._

_Suddenly fulfilling himself was not the goal._

_Satisfying her was…_

_He was silent for so long that Ginny was about to get off of him when he grabbed a firm hold of her hips, holding her in place. _

"_Don't," he growled. "You're perfect."_

"_Really?" Ginny asked._

_Draco looked up at her momentarily before he grabbed her face and pulled her into a wanton kiss, making her shriek into his mouth. _

"Ginny, are you okay?"

Jolting in her seat, Ginny looked up to see Luna staring at her with a look on her face.

A look that said she knew exactly what Ginny had been thinking about.

Ginny hated that look.

"What?" she stammered, blinking quickly before she looked around her office. "What is it?"

Tilting her head to the side, Luna pointed behind her to the door.

"Lunch, remember. To tell us about your night with Draco," she replied.

Ginny stood up and was about to grab her coat when she stopped.

"Wait… what? Draco?" she asked before shaking her head. "You mean Jason?"

Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Do I?" she asked innocently. "Sorry. I must have been thinking about another night."

* * *

Draco pulled away from the basin and looked over at his door, raising his eyebrows at what he saw.

"I didn't know I was that interesting," he commented.

Rockwell snorted and pointed to the pensive.

"You're not. What you're doing is," he responded.

"And what am I doing?"

Valance, Goyle and Zabini exchanged looks.

"Well, if you're doing what we think you're doing, this is going to be the third time you let yourself get screwed and then screwed over by a Weasley," Valance said, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms with a smirk on his face. "Good luck."

**A/N: A very **_**revealing**_** chapter, I hope. Perhaps some insight into the real tension between the two now. Read and Review!**

**The Darkest wizard:** The last scene was just for you!

**Jenny:** Rayne's got a lot of Malfoy and Weasley in her. Makes her very interesting. "Little mudblood girl" Very funny! I'm glad you liked Drift.

**Purplegabby123:** I hope you did!

**The Elegant Egotist:** We'll have a lot more on Landon in the next chapter. This chapter, aside from the middle with Lupin, was very much about Draco and Ginny.

**snowfire81:** Well, no one dies yet, but there were some past Draco Ginny moments. As far as I can tell you, no one's dying anytime soon.

**Bellatrix Amarante:** Rayne is a muggleborn Draco saved from being killed during the summer before he and Ginny got involved. She's related to a family of Muggles who are sort of mediators for the Muggle and Magical world and her family was killed by Death Eaters. (Further Explanation in Chapter 11 of Drift at the end). Draco obviously developed a fatherly sort of love for Rayne, but after he and Ginny broke up, he decided it would be best if Rayne stayed with Ginny. Rayne opts to call Ginny 'Ginny' because she doesn't really see her as a mother, nor does she see Draco as a father, even though he sometimes acts like one towards her. As for Laurie, she never really existed in this realm. She was their daughter in the future if none of that bad stuff had ever happened. She was killed by Lucius the Christmas before Ginny was tortured, along with future Draco and future Ginny. It's sort of difficult to understand and explain, but hopefully you understood that. If not, just tell me and I'll try again.

**Nextbestthing: **Rayne acts a lot like Draco some times I needed to make sure people knew that there was a whole lot of Weasley in there. I'm glad you liked it. Don't worry about editing. I haven't written much lately. I'm in a summer class to complete some credits and then I'm working on another original story that's taking up a lot of my time. Also, the internet on my computer isn't working, which is why it's taken me so long to update this.

**Hey everyone. I'm **_**really**_** sorry for making you wait so long. I was on vacation for the first three weeks in June, so I couldn't update. And then my computer lost internet, so I couldn't update either so I haven't had much time to do much. I'm sorry for the long wait, but I'll try to do better as the school year approaches. Somehow I do a lot better when under pressure. Thanks for bearing with me!**

**Chapter Tease:**

"_LANDON STOP IT!" Reilly screamed, terror written all over her face. "YOU'RE HURTING HIM!"_


	13. An Ode to Lord of the Flies

_Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure._ **-Marianne Williamson**

* * *

Ron and Hermione sat down across the table from each other, looking around the café casually. Hermione quickly ordered two coffees before turning to her husband, smiling.

"So, how's your day off going so far?" she asked coyly, coaxing a knowing smirk out of him.

"Great so far," he replied, leaning forward on the table. "This morning was fun."

Hermione shrugged and pointed to him.

"You won't get another 'this morning' if you forget to pick up Sara from her school," she replied.

"Here you are," the waitress said, placing Hermione's coffee in front of her. The young woman then turned to Ron and flashed a winning smile, slowly sliding his coffee towards him. "And here you go, Mr. Weasley," she cooed, giving him a quick wink. Ron's ears went bright red while Hermione's eyes narrowed and she coughed loudly.

"Thank you," she snapped, glaring the waitress down until she blushed violently, curtsied and walked away quickly. Hermione folded her arms and shook her head.

"They all do that," she muttered. "Every _single_ one of them. They see you and all they think about is how sexy you used to look on a broom."

Ron raised an eyebrow.

"_Used_ to look?" he repeated and she rolled her eyes, fixing them on the young woman who had served them, sulking by the door that led to the kitchen.

"The last picture that magazine took, you were topless on a broom," she grumbled, shifting a little in her seat. "Of course, you're still sexy but all they can think about is your abs and that's not the only part of you that-"

"For my sake, please do not finish that statement, Hermione."

The couple looked up to see Remus Lupin standing there, a soft smile on his aging face. Hermione's eyes lit up immediately and she stood up, pulling him into a warm hug.

"Oh Remus, how are you?"

Ron stood up and shook the older man's hand firmly before they all sat down. Hermione reluctantly called back the waitress and the girl quickly took Remus' order before scurrying away under the watchful gaze of the brunette.

"I see some things haven't changed," Remus observed and Hermione frowned.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked while Ron laughed.

"How are you Remus?" he asked, fingering his coffee tentatively.

Remus shrugged unenthusiastically.

"Fine, I suppose. I've been at Hogwarts since I came in and Landon has been difficult," he told them. "It took a while to tell him what he really is."

Hermione bit her lip and reached out to take his hand comfortingly.

"You look tired," she whispered.

A snort escaped his chest as the waitress swiftly placed his coffee before him and hurried away.

"The poor boy's kept me up most of the nights. I'm helping him understand what's going on," he explained, rubbing his temples. "I'm starting to remember the screaming again…"

They were quiet for a while, lost in their own thoughts before Ron decided to switch gears.

"Um… how's Harry?" he asked quietly, taking a sip from his cup. Hermione noticeably perked up and Remus offered them a smile.

"Harry's wonderful. I believe he is considering coming back some time before the end of the year."

"Seriously?" Hermione asked and Remus nodded.

"He's seeing someone."

Ron snorted.

"_Seriously_?"

Remus noticed Ron's disbelief and smirked.

"I think this one is serious, Ronald. He really seems to like her."

Hermione grinned.

"Well, I think that's wonderful. The last time we saw him, he wasn't seeing anyone. It's wonderful that he's really trying to move on," she said before turning to Remus, biting her lip. "Speaking of moving on… have you seen Tonks yet?" The man's body visibly stiffened and Hermione instantly knew the answer to that question. She exchanged a glance with Ron and shifted a little. "Does she even know you're here?"

Remus shook his head, staring down at his coffee.

"No."

"Do you intend on telling her?"

"No."

"But-"

"Hermione," Ron cut in, shooting her a look before turning to Remus. "So, Remus, how long are you going to be staying at Hogwarts?"

Remus glanced over at Hermione, noticing the determined look on her face and shook his head.

"No. Landon's doing better now. He actually told his friends earlier this week so they'll be able to help him. I suggested to Dumbledore that, because of his age, he remain in the Hospital Wing until further notice."

"Is he still dangerous?" Ron asked curiously and Remus sighed.

"I don't know. Each change is different and with a father like Greyback, the likelihood of Landon gaining control quickly is doubtful. However, at the moment I would say he is more of a danger to his friends than anyone else."

Hermione frowned.

"Why would you say that?"

Remus looked up at them.

"A male animal's primal instinct is to protect his territory," he told them. "His friends constitute as territory."

* * *

"Landon, are you listening?"

The boy jerked and looked over to where Reilly and Charlie were sitting, watching him with concern. He had been watching the people moving around suspiciously, getting agitated and shifting anxiously in his seat if they got closer than he was comfortable with. Reilly and Charlie had been updated on Landon's state of being and had been informed by Dumbledore that they were to be as careful as possible around him. However, the looks he was giving other students were starting to unnerve his two friends.

Reilly pointed to Charlie hesitantly.

"Um… Charlie was reading the ingredients for the potion we have to make tomorrow for Snape," she whispered.

Landon hesitated and took a deep breath, trying to calm the obsessed voices within, chattering loudly in his mind.

"I… um, yeah… I'm listening," he muttered, straightening in his seat and looked down at the piece of parchment he had before him. "What were you saying, Charlie?"

Charlie and Reilly exchanged a quick glance before Charlie returned to reading from the book he had found earlier. They stayed in the library for another thirty minutes before Landon's paranoia became so bad that Reilly suggested that they leave before he attacked Madame Prince for skulking behind the shelves nearby.

It was lunch time and the Great Hall seemed like a good idea, so they headed that way, keeping Landon in the middle to assure he didn't get into any trouble. Most students, particularly the older ones, ignored the first years, but a couple of younger students eyed Landon suspiciously, knowing very well that something was wrong with him.

When they reached the large doors, Charlie stopped, shuffling through his bag.

"I forgot my notebook in the library."

Landon glanced into the crowded Hall and hesitated.

"Do you want me to come with you?" he asked hopefully, but Charlie, missing the look in his friend's eyes completely, shook his head and hurried off down the hall, scurrying around larger sixth years who glared down at him. Reilly smiled at their friend's one-track nature and entered the Great Hall, Landon following closely behind. Due to Landon's fluctuating bouts of paranoia, Reilly had deemed it best if the boy sat at the Gryffindor table to avoid lashing out at any Slytherin. The Gryffindors had allowed the seating arrangement only because they respected Rayne and because they knew the boy had no friends within the Slytherin realm. They reached an open spot and sat down across from Rayne and her friends, Trent and Lisa.

"Hi, Landon," Lisa greeted. "Reilly. Where's your other friend? Charlie?"

"Charlie forgot his notebook in the library," Reilly explained, reaching out to grab something to eat. Landon began collecting any sort of dish that had meat in it, skipping over the fruit, bread and vegetables that were also on the table. Reilly watched him begin to eat, wrinkling her nose. Trent just snorted and turned to Rayne.

"So, are you ready for the Halloween Ball?" he asked and the redhead shrugged, watching Landon also, a look of mild disgust on her face.

"Um…" Her eyes widened when the Slytherin placed a rather large piece of beef in his mouth. "I… uh…"

"Rayne," Lisa cut in, smiling. "The ball?"

Rayne blinked a couple of times before blushing and nodding.

"Yeah, um. Ginny just sent me my dress," she told them. "It's going to be fun."

Trent glanced over at Lisa.

"Do you have your dress?"

Lisa rolled her eyes at him. "Dean's been asking me the same question all week and it's starting to get annoying. You'll all see my dress later."

Rayne grinned. "Dean's taking you?" she asked excitedly. "When did he ask?"

Trent snorted.

"Tuesday, while we were in the library," he said, pointing to where the Ravenclaw was sitting. "He asked in front of me."

Lisa turned to her friend and smiled.

"The reason he asked in front of you is because you wouldn't take the hint and leave," she added. "Besides, you still haven't asked Hanna."

A blush crept up Trent's neck as Rayne looked around the Great Hall, searching for the girl in question. She spotted the beautiful seventh year Gryffindor talking animatedly with her friends a few seats down, a warm smile adding a glow to her ebony skin.

"I'm surprised you haven't asked her yet."

"She's a seventh year," Trent muttered, sinking down a bit in embarrassment. Lisa nudged him, grinning happily.

"Oh come on. So she's a year older. I've seen you two talking a lot and I think she likes you."

Trent snorted, looking over to where Hanna Thomas sat with a weird look on his face.

"We're just friends," he grumbled. "Besides, she has a boyfriend."

Landon looked up and glanced down the table before frowning.

"Who, Hanna Thomas?"

Rayne raised an eyebrow. "You know her?"

Landon nodded.

"She wants to be a Healer so she comes up to the Infirmary some times to help out Madame Pomfrey," he told them. "We talk sometimes."

"About what?" Rayne asked curiously, exchanging amused glances with Lisa. Landon shrugged, oblivious to the affect the conversation was having on Trent.

"Just what she wants to be when she leaves and how Gordon's been pressuring her," he said, confusion in his eyes. "I don't know what he's pressuring her for, but she just keeps saying that."

Trent went completely red while Rayne and Lisa burst out laughing. Reilly and Landon looked confused and just shrugged.

"What's going on?" Charlie asked, sitting down beside Landon. "What are they laughing about?"

Reilly shook her head and continued eating.

"They're talking about some girl," she told him. "Did you find your notebook?"

Charlie nodded, before pointing over to the Slytherin table.

"I also ran into Faigan," he muttered. "I think he hates me."

"What happened?" Reilly asked.

Charlie shook his head.

"Nothing happened. He just sort of told me to watch my back."

Landon looked over to where the boy was sitting and his eyes narrowed as something evil reared its head within him.

_He threatened your friend. _

_He threatened you by doing so and you need to deal with it. _

_Just jump off the tables and kill him. _

_There won't be a problem. _

_You'd be protecting what's yours and Charlie wouldn't have to worry about the fat bastard again._

_Just jump the tables, get your fingers around his chubby little neck and twitch-_

"Landon, are you okay?" Charlie asked, interrupting Landon's vicious train of thought. He had seen the animalistic lust start to rise up in his friend's black eyes and hesitated. "Um… what time is it?"

Reilly looked around to see some students beginning to leave the Great Hall for their afternoon classes.

"Time to go."

They were all about to leave when Hanna Thomas walked over with a couple of her friends, a pleasant smile on her face.

"Hey, Landon," she greeted, motioning to her friends. "This is the boy I was talking to you about. Landon Greyback."

Two of her friends smiled and shook his hand.

"Hanna says you're a Slytherin," one of her friends, Nora, said. "You're unusually kind."

The other one nudged Hanna and grinned. "And cute," she added before looking at Charlie. "They're both cute."

Hanna rolled her eyes and began pushing her friends back towards the door.

"You're much too old for them and you two have boyfriends," she said, glancing over her shoulder and waving. "See you later, Landon. You too, Trent."

Hanna's friends giggled knowingly and they all hurried out of the Great Hall, leaving a stunned Trent behind. Lisa grinned and nudged him playfully. "She seems to like you."

Reilly stood up, motioning to Charlie and Landon.

"Come on. I'm tired of hearing about people's love lives," she muttered.

Charlie nodded and stood up, waiting for Landon to do the same before they followed Reilly out the door. They had made it out the doors of the castle on their way to the Herbology houses, but before they could get through the doors, Faigan and his friends stopped them.

"Why do you suppose Weasley and Greyback keep Wilson around?" he asked. "A pet?"

They turned to face the large boy and Reilly placed her hands on her hips, resembling her grandmother in a very frightening way.

"What do you want, Faigan?" she demanded angrily.

The boy rolled his eyes and pointed to Charlie.

"The question is what do you want with Wilson? He's a Mudblood," Faigan sneered hatefully.

Landon's lips pulled back in a snarl and he took a step forward.

"Go away, Faigan," he growled but Reilly placed a hand on his shoulder, biting her lip at his obvious intentions.

"Landon, come on," she snapped, pulling him back as she grabbed hold of Charlie's arm. "Let's go to class."

"Right. Protect your little Mudblood," Faigan called and Charlie paled at the word.

"Stop calling him that," Landon snarled angrily while Reilly tried to hold him back.

"Landon, stop it! Come on, let's just go."

Charlie tugged on Landon's arm, a strange look on his face.

"Don't worry about it, Landon," he mumbled, moving towards the green house dejectedly. "Let's go."

Landon glanced over at Reilly and she gave him a pleading look.

"Please," she whispered, looking constantly in Charlie's direction. "Please, let's go."

He nodded and followed grudgingly after Reilly and Charlie, the voices in his head screaming.

_Turn around and rip his tongue out!_

_The fat bastard shouldn't be able to speak!_

_He insulted your friend!_

_By insulting his friend he insulted you!_

_Rip out his-_

"Yeah, go run away, Mudblood!"

"Landon, wait!" Reilly screamed, watching in horror as the boy turned around and launched himself at Faigan, a terrifying snarl erupting from his lips. "Charlie!"

Charlie turned around and ran over to her, eyes wide with shock.

"OW! GERROFF! GERROFF!" Faigan shouted as he and Landon wrestled around on the ground violently, rolling down the hill. Charlie and Reilly ran off after them, followed by Faigan's friends and a couple of other students who had seen the entire thing.

"LANDON!" Reilly screamed. "STOP IT!"

The Gryffindor actually fell out of the tumbling mass, leaving Faigan to roll down into the lake. Landon righted himself quickly, crouching down in preparation like a predator getting ready to attack.

"LANDON!" Charlie shouted before his friend launched himself headfirst into Faigan's chest, slamming them both into the lake. "LANDON STOP!"

The two boys appeared a moment later, thrashing around wildly before Landon managed to get on top, shoving the Slytherin's head under the water. The boy began slamming his fists into Faigan's submerged face, yelling something incomprehensible, but vicious and inhuman.

"Landon, leave him alone!" Reilly begged before turning to Charlie. "Stop him!"

Charlie waded into the water and grabbed the back of Landon's robes, tugging on him as hard as possible, but it was like trying to move a large wild animal. Landon released Faigan momentarily and turned around, shoving Charlie away fiercely before diving back onto the large Slytherin, who had been trying to crawl away. The beast shoved his fingers between Faigan's teeth, prying his mouth open. Reilly's eyes widened at what Landon was about to do and she started to walk into the water.

"LANDON STOP!" she screamed while Charlie immerged from the water, spluttering and clutching his chest in pain. He saw Landon reach into Faigan's mouth and grab the boy's tongue.

"SAY IT!" the beast snarled. "SAY IT!"

"LANDON STOP IT!" Reilly screamed, terror written all over her face. "YOU'RE HURTING HIM!"

She swam over to where he was and tried to pull him off the boy but Landon just hit her hard in the face, all the while tugging viciously on Faigan's tongue. Blood was starting to pour out of the Slytherin's mouth and students on the lake bank were screaming for Landon to stop, fear surging through all of them. A couple were running back up the hill, shouting desperately for a professor.

"LANDON!" Reilly cried, when she managed to get her head above the water. "PLEASE STOP!"

Before the tongue could be ripped out, Charlie lunged at Landon and knocked him back into the water, struggling around with the crazed eleven year old while Reilly tried to pull Faigan out of the lake.

"Help me!" she begged and a couple of Slytherins ran in to help her out. They managed to take him up to the bank before Reilly turned around to see Charlie and Landon still fighting in the water. "STOP IT! PLEASE!"

_Stop it! He's yours! He's yours! He's not a threat, don't kill him!_

Landon tore away from Charlie, eyes wide and mind screeching to a halt. His eyes moved over Charlie's face and he gasped.

"What happened?" he muttered, backing away from Charlie, further into the lake. "What just happened?"

"HE KILLED FAIGAN!" a girl on the bank shrieked shrilly, pointing at Landon. "HE KILLED FAIGAN!"

A couple of other girls started screaming as well while everyone else stared at the eleven year old in horror. Reilly could feel the tears rolling down her face as she moved over to where Charlie stood in the water and took his face in her hands, gasping at the amount of blood pouring out of his nose and the bad gash on his lip.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "Oh Charlie, you're bleeding!"

Charlie swayed faintly in the water, the loss of blood causing his mind to grow hazy. He tried to focus on her and frowned. "So are you," he mumbled weakly.

"What the hell is going on?!"

They all turned to see every single Professor coming down the hill, eyes wide in shock. Dumbledore was leading the horrified procession and stopped beside the crowd of students circled around Faigan's bloody form.

"What happened?" he asked as Snape knelt down beside the limp body.

"He barely has a pulse, Albus," the professor muttered, standing back up and conjuring a stretcher, magically lifting the boy's body onto it. "We need to get him up to the Hospital Wing now."

Hagrid accompanied Snape up to the castle while Dumbledore moved closer to the bank with Draco and McGonagall right behind him. Dumbledore saw the blood on Reilly and Charlie's faces and Landon further back and realized what must have happened. McGonagall also realized as well and motioned to the Gryffindors.

"Ms. Weasley. Mr. Wilson, out of the water now!" she snapped, fear in her eyes. "Now!"

Reilly and Charlie hesitated, looking over at where Landon was standing, but Draco waded into the water and grabbed their robes, hauling them out of the water quickly.

"The professor told you to move, so move!" he bellowed, shoving them in front of him up the hill, past the large crowd of horrified students.

Landon made a move to follow after, but Dumbledore shook his head.

"Landon, stay there," he ordered quickly. "Stay there."

The poor boy looked completely confused, shivering terribly in the water.

"What happened? What did I do?" he asked frightfully. Dumbledore ignored the question, turning to McGonagall.

"Get these students out of here now," he told her, keeping an eye on Landon. "Have them all go to their Houses until further notice. Anyone out of their house will be expelled."

McGonagall nodded and turned to the other professors, relaying the message quickly and soon students were being reluctantly herded back up the hill towards the castle, too shocked to object to what was being said to them.

A cold fear shot down Landon's spine and the voices in his head returned.

_Run…_

_Run._

_Run!_

_RUN!_

_RUN!_

"WHAT DID I DO?!"

**A/N: Very intense!**

**The Elegant Egotist:** I hope my characters don't get that way. I'm glad you like them. As for the sequel, I suppose that all depends on how this story pans out. No, we don't want those things around. I'll try to get chapters out quicker.

**The Darkest wizard:** I'm glad you liked the last scene and as far as I know, Valance, Rockwell and Goyle don't have kids or partners, but I suppose that could change, depending on how I feel about them.

**Nextbestthing:** The scenes with Landon are starting to become my favorite too, because of the whole psychology of it. I got the name Landon from that movie, _A Walk to Remember_. (Very good movie by the way). BTW, was this something like what you were expecting? Oh, and if I do start a new story, you will be the one I go to for a beta, don't worry!

**purplegabby123:** Oh, Ginny has a lot to tell about her relationship with Draco, but that will come later.

**Lunar Fire:** Thank you so much!

**Chapter Tease:**

"_I don't remember what happened."_

_Remus shook his head and tapped his temple. _

"_You remember everything," he replied, leaning forward. "At least one of you does."_

_A fearful look crossed Landon's face. _

"_One of us?"_


	14. Sheep and Wolves

_Things are never so bad they can't be made worse._ **-From the movie The African Queen**

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay?" Reilly asked for the fourth time as she sat cross-legged across from Charlie on his hospital bed. She reached out to touch his face, but he swatted her away.

"It was just a bloody nose, Reilly. I'm much better now," he mumbled, still a little weak from the blows to the head he had received. It was only an hour after the fight and already the entire school knew about their friend's brief and violent descent into complete and utter madness. Landon was being kept in Filch's old office until further notice.

After Draco Malfoy had dragged the two Gryffindors up to the Hospital Wing, he had left them along with Snape and Hagrid, to go to Dumbledore's office where many professors were gathering to decide what to do while waiting for Aurors and Faigan's parents to show up. The only other person in the Wing beside Reilly, Charlie and Faigan was an extremely nosy fifth year who had suddenly come down with a case of fainting spells conveniently outside of the infirmary.

Reilly looked down a few beds to where Faigan was lying, still unconscious. Bandages were wrapped tightly around his head and strange whimpering sounds were escaping his tortured lips.

"What do you think they're going to do to him?" she asked softly, running a hand over her own black eye. Charlie shrugged and then winced at the pain going through his shoulder.

"He tried to kill Faigan," he muttered.

"Protecting you," Reilly pointed out quickly and Charlie snorted.

"As much as I hate him, ripping his tongue out and beating him to a pulp was not one of my ideas," he replied. A distressed look came upon Reilly as she turned to look back at Faigan.

"But it wasn't really him, right? It was the whole werewolf thing," she whispered. "He's not really in control of that."

Charlie paled a little.

"They'll probably just give him a lot of detention," he said hopefully.

Before Reilly could respond, the large doors opened to the Wing and Ron hurried in, followed closely by Hermione.

"Reilly are you okay?" he demanded instantly, walking over to where she and Charlie were. His niece nodded, hugging him tightly.

"Is Landon okay? Are they going to expel him?" she asked rapidly.

"Ms. Weasley get back in bed," Madame Pomfrey snapped, coming out of her office. The old nurse walked over to the two adults. "Thank goodness you're here, Hermione." She pointed to Faigan. "That boy is possibly the worse thing I've seen since your husband attacked Professor Malfoy."

Hermione's eyes widened at the reference before nodding and hurrying over to the boy, along with the nurse.

"What's going on?" Ron asked.

"Landon tried to kill Faigan," Charlie answered quickly while Reilly nodded. "He tried to pull his tongue out!"

"What?" Ron gasped, turning to look at Hermione, who was examining the Slytherin's face.

"Oh my God," Hermione murmured when she managed to open the boy's mouth. "Ron, look at this." Her husband came over and she pointed to the small pink muscle. "It's almost ripped clean off."

Madame Pomfrey motioned to several other wounds. "For such a small boy, he did a lot of damage."

Ron frowned. "What do you mean?"

The nurse pointed to the boy's face and chest. "Mr. Greyback broke his nose, jaw, cracked his skull, broke six ribs and there are a lot of bad cuts and bruises all over him."

"Did Greyback bite him?" Ron asked and Pomfrey shook her head.

"No. As far as I could see, there were no bite marks."

Just then, the doors opened again and in walked Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Draco and Moody. Reilly and Charlie stood up again and ran over to the Headmaster.

"Is Landon okay? Have you expelled him?"

"Mr. Wilson! Ms. Weasley, sit back down," Pomfrey snapped again, pointing to the bed they had just left. "Right now."

Dumbledore ushered the two children back to the bed before sitting down opposite them, nothing but seriousness in his blue eyes. "You two need to tell us what happened," he said.

McGonagall caught sight of the fifth year listening in and frowned.

"Mr. Webster. If you do not leave this place immediately, I will be giving you detention until the end of the school year," she said curtly and the boy scampered out of there quickly. She then turned back to her little Gryffindors. "Mr. Wilson. Ms. Weasley. Please."

Reilly glanced over at Charlie hesitantly before she spoke. "Um… Faigan was making fun of Charlie and was calling him a bad name."

"Mudblood," Draco muttered to himself, his mind going back to the simpler days of his early Hogwarts years. "Good times."

"I asked him to stop, but Landon… well, he sort of just attacked him after Faigan called Charlie a bad name again," she finished weakly.

"Did you do anything to stop the fight?" Moody asked. Charlie pointed to his face and Moody rolled his eyes, looking over at Ron. "You Weasleys always find some smartass to hang out with," he growled.

Reilly bit her lip. "Is Landon going to be expelled?" she asked timidly.

Dumbledore sighed and stood up.

"We haven't decided that yet," he told them. "Do not worry, though. We'll try to help him though." He motioned for the others to follow him. Hermione opted to stay behind with Pomfrey to look over Faigan.

"It's going to be okay," she told the two eleven year olds comfortingly. They looked over at her and she offered them a smile. "It's going to be okay."

Outside, Dumbledore led the way down to Filch's old office.

"Albus, this is serious," Moody growled as they moved. "You're lucky his parents don't know what the hell Greyback is."

Ron shook his head. "Students aren't thick, Alastor. Faigan's twice Greyback's size and half the school saw what he did. Even if they don't figure out he's a werewolf, they'll know something's wrong with him."

Dumbledore paused and turned to Snape.

"Severus, would you please intercept Mr. Faigan's parents?" Snape nodded curtly, exchanged a quick glance with Draco and left. McGonagall frowned.

"Albus, what are you going to do about this?" she asked as they continued down the stairs to Landon.

Dumbledore shook his head. "I want to hear what Remus says before I make a decision," he told them.

"He's dangerous either way, Dumbledore," Ron said. "We're just lucky he didn't kill anyone."

Dumbledore sighed. "This is a very difficult decision. We have to handle this with the utmost care."

Draco snorted, exchanging a look with Ron. "That means the Minister isn't going to know."

* * *

_Why are they keeping you here?_

Landon looked around the empty, dank office from the small chair Dumbledore had conjured up for him. There were no windows and he could hear something circling him behind the walls. He was still in the soaked clothes he had been wearing earlier and no one had said a word to him since Dumbledore had finally allowed him to get out of the lake. No one had even bothered to help him with his bloody hands, making him more aware that something was desperately wrong. The images of Reilly and Charlie were still chewing cruelly at his mind but he could not find a single memory of what had happened before that moment. He had seen Faigan on the lake bank and he had seen the blood on his hands, but he could not bring himself to believe what the girl on the bank had shrieked gracelessly.

He licked his bleeding lips before he continued chewing on them, standing up and moving over to the door, looking through the small grating that gave him a view into a long empty hallway.

"Hello?" he called timidly. "Hello?"

_They shouldn't keep you here._

_They shouldn't try to cage you like some animal._

Landon closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to get rid of the voices, but that only seemed to make them angrier.

_You can't ignore this!_

_If you wait, they'll come in and kill you! _

"There's no way to get out," he muttered, scratching his hair irritably. "There's no way to get out."

_Then wait patiently for the door to open and then make your escape. _

_Up the stairs, down the halls and out the front doors. _

_Head straight for the woods._

_They can't find you in the woods._

Again with the scratching…

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

Bloody mouse.

He leaned his head against the wall and began following the small animal quietly, his lips curling hatefully as the noise only got louder. He caught sight of a small hole in the dark corner of the office and stealthily moved over, hovering there until a small nose stuck out, shivering nervously. Landon's fingers twitched as he waited for more of the irksome creature to show. As soon as the beady little eyes pushed past the stone wall, a hand shot out and snatched it up, leveling its face with his.

"_Be quiet_," he snarled before there was a burst of white light and a quick image of Charlie and Reilly's frightened faces flashing before his eyes before he dropped the shrieking mouse and backed away from it, watching as it scurried back into the hole in the wall. He then looked down at his hands, still cut badly from whatever had happened in the lake.

Behind him, Landon heard footsteps coming towards the door and he scrambled to get back into his seat, clenching the sides of his robes and biting his bottom lip hard as the door was unlocked and opened. The moment he saw Remus, his body seized up and the voices grew panicky.

_He's going to hurt you._

_You did something bad on his territory and now he's come to fight. _

_Run! _

_RUN!_

_RUN!_

"Don't run, Landon," Remus whispered quietly, conjuring up another chair to sit across from the boy. "You won't get far."

"How do you know?" Landon heard himself ask.

A smile appeared on the older man's face at question and he pointed to the door.

"There are ten Aurors waiting down that hallway for a small boy to knock out. I suggest you don't give them that opportunity," he told the Gryffindor. "No matter what those voices say."

Landon shifted in his seat and then looked at the door. "Are Charlie and Reilly okay?"

Remus nodded. "Yes. They're up in the Hospital Wing."

Nodding, the boy looked around at nothing in particular still chewing on his shredded lip.

"Am I in trouble?" he asked after a couple of silent minutes.

A sigh caused him to look at Remus. "That depends on what you tell me, Landon."

"I don't remember what happened."

Remus shook his head and tapped his temple. "You remember everything," he replied, leaning forward. "At least one of you does."

A fearful look crossed Landon's face. "One of us?"

Remus pointed to Landon's forehead.

"The one who's telling you to attack me right now," he said and the boy's eyes widened momentarily before he shook his head, wiping his sweaty brow.

"I didn't do anything," he mumbled.

Remus knew this wasn't going to be easy. Denial was in such easy reach because of Landon's age. Trying a different approach, he pointed to the boy's hands.

"Do you know how you got those bad cuts, Landon?"

Landon shook his head again, balling his agonized fingers up in fists and wincing a little.

"I didn't do anything wrong," he reworded carefully and Remus instantly knew that this was no longer the young Slytherin boy he was speaking to. He stood up quickly and advanced on Landon, causing him to fall out of his chair and crawl over into the corner.

"Don't mess with me," he murmured. "Tell me what happened."

The Slytherin looked up at Remus with a blank look on his face for a moment before tears filled his black eyes and shook his head.

"What's wrong with me?" he cried. He looked down at his hands and then began wiping them off frantically on his wet robes, all the while tears were running down his face. "I didn't mean to hurt him. He was being mean to Charlie and… it won't come off!" Remus moved to help him, but Landon released a menacing snarl and backed further into the corner. "_Don't touch me!"_

Remus knew where this panic was heading and had to stop it before Landon seriously injured himself. The former professor ran over to the door and yanked it open.

"Malfoy, get down here now!" he yelled before turning back to Landon. "Calm down, Landon. You need to stay calm."

"I killed him. I killed that boy and I almost killed my friends," the boy cried pitifully while he began to claw at his skin as hysteria began to take a firm grip of his mind and body. "Please make it go away! Please make it go away!"

Remus looked down the hall again.

"MALFOY!" he bellowed. He then turned and hurried over to Landon, grabbing the boy by the shoulders and pinning him to the wall. "Calm down!" Landon began thrashing around violently, crying, spitting and biting at the same time.

Draco appeared at the door, carrying a small vial of emerald fluid. He ran over to the struggle and opened the vial.

"Could you try to hold him still?" Draco growled. "The little bugger won't stop moving."

"MAKE IT STOP!!" Landon screamed, clutching his head as the voices began wailing vehemently. Remus grabbed the boy by the mouth and pried his mouth open.

"Hurry," he growled and Draco quickly poured the liquid down Landon's throat before Remus slammed the boy's mouth shut again and held his nose, forcing him to swallow. Instantly, Landon's muscles relaxed and in a minute he was unconscious on the floor, twitching every so often.

"Shit," Draco swore, looking down at his bleeding hand. Landon had broken the vial on his way down to the ground and pieces of glass were now sticking into his hands. "What the hell happened?"

Remus rolled Landon over and checked his pulse.

"He's still hearing voices," he said, sighing. "He doesn't understand what it is or how to control it yet."

Draco began plucking pieces of glass out of his hand, not really caring much for what Remus had to say.

"Do you still hear voices, Lupin?" he asked casually and Remus looked up at him, a weird look on his face.

"Sometimes, Malfoy," he replied, picking the boy up and walking towards the door. "But only when I think about pricks like you."

Draco placed a hand over his heart and gave a look of appreciation. "Awww, you do care," he gushed mockingly as he followed the man out the door and down the long hall where several Aurors were waiting with Moody, McGonagall and Dumbledore. Ron was no where to be found.

"What happened?" McGonagall asked, hurrying over to Remus and placing a hand on Landon's sweaty face. "Is he alright?"

Remus nodded.

"He'll be fine, Minerva," he whispered, turning to Dumbledore. "I suggest getting him some medical help though. He's very disturbed."

Draco snorted as he held his injured hand close to him.

"That's the understatement of the century."

Moody rounded on the man.

"You know what, Malfoy, I've had enough of your bullshit," he snapped, grabbing Draco's collar and slamming him into the wall, his wand in the professor's face. "This whole thing is your fault and I am not going to sit around and wait until everyone dies before you can fulfill your little vendetta to kill Greyback and screw Weasley."

A cold smirk appeared on Draco's naturally pale features, but his eyes darkened as he leaned forward so that their faces were almost touching.

"I think the strap that's holding your eye on is a bit tight, Alastor," he growled in a dangerously calm voice. "I _have_ no personal vendetta against Greyback. I _will_ kill him and if Weasley so happens to be _screwed_ in the process then so be it, but I swear if you point that piece of wood at me one more time, I'll make you swallow your other bloody eye. Now get the hell off of me before I decide to press charges against the Auror Department for brutality."

The murderous look on Moody's face was palpable, but after Dumbledore took a step forward, he shoved Draco hard into the wall before he motioned for the Aurors to escort Remus up to the Hospital Wing.

"I'd watch Reilly, Moody," Draco called. "I'd hate for something horrible to happen because of a Malfoy."

"Screw you, Malfoy," Moody snarled.

Draco shrugged and looked down at his watch. "I'm sorry. I'll be too busy screwing Ginny Weasley," he replied.

"Oh, you son of a bitch!"

"HEY!" Ron yelled, walking down the hall towards them. "What's going on?"

Draco pointed to Moody. "Your boss was just escorting Mr. Lupin and Mr. Greyback up to the Hospital Wing," he responded before walking off down the hall, a dark look on his face.

Ron frowned and turned to Dumbledore. "What was that about?"

* * *

Greyback waited patiently until the woman slipped up beside him, flexing her muscles a little while she settled down.

"Well?"

The woman offered a sadistic grin and nodded. "You're son was quite impressive. He didn't kill the boy, but he moved beautifully," she whispered, watching disinterestedly as people passed by.

"Any problems?"

She eyed her fingernails and frowned. "The two Gryffindors who were with him in the woods," she muttered, biting one of her nails. "They were in the water trying to stop him."

"Did he hurt them?"

The woman waited until a small cup of tea was placed before her before she answered the question. "A little shove, but nothing to arouse the concern of Albus Dumbledore. As far as I know, he hasn't left the premises yet."

"They wouldn't," Greyback replied coolly, eyeing a pretty little brunette with pigtails, sucking on her thumb and tugging on her mother's skirt as they walked by. The thought of just sinking his teeth into such delicate skin caused him to salivate as he watched the girl disappear down the street. "Dumbledore's too careful to release Landon."

"But with all of those students?"

Greyback gave her a smile. "If Dumbledore was so concerned about the welfare of his students, he would have kicked Potter out after his second year," he told her. "This whole werewolf business is not as extravagant as Voldemort's little quarrel. Dumbledore's not about to get rid of Landon because he tried to rip out the tongue of some talkative fat bastard."

"What about Remus Lupin?"

She saw Greyback noticeably stiffen, his black eyes seeming to sink further into his skull as he just stared into the street. The sound of his teeth grinding against each other was audible and a couple patrons at the café were starting to stare, nervousness in their muggle eyes.

"I'll deal with Remus Lupin in due time."

"And Malfoy?" she asked. "What are you going to do about him?"

"Don't worry about Malfoy."

A deep growl escaped the woman's throat.

"Don't worry about Malfoy? He killed two of us and you haven't done a damn thing about it. Just released your son to run wild around Hogwarts," she hissed angrily.

"I'll deal with it."

The woman turned in her seat to face him.

"If you think for a moment that I'm going to buy that shit, then you better thing twice, Fenrir," she growled. "My life is not worth screwing Malfoy over."

Greyback was quiet for a moment, just watching the people go by with a blank look on his face. Then a smile appeared on his face and he turned to the woman.

"I'll deal with Malfoy in good time, Emory," he whispered with such a tender voice that she shivered and leaned closer to him, an alluring smirk teasing her lips. He reached out and touched her face, running his fingers down her jaw and neck lightly. "After I kill him, I'll kill Landon and the others." His eyes flickered down to the neck of her shirt, examining her cleavage lustfully. "Then you and I are going to go to Paris."

Emory grinned as she placed a hand on his leg, leaning in closer so that their lips were close to touching. "Why Paris?" she asked.

Greyback reached out and brushed her wild blonde hair out of her face, his eyes expressing the most primal of lust.

"It is said that Parisians are more relaxed," he whispered. "Killing them should be so much more enjoyable without stressed muscles."

"Sounds like fun," Emory murmured before pressing her lips against his, releasing a feral growl when his arm snaked around her waist, pulling her out of her chair and into his waiting lap. She quickly moved around so that she was straddling him, tugging on his shirt.

"Oh my Lord!" a woman in the café gasped in disgust at the couple's actions. "This is a public place!"

Emory pulled away from Greyback and looked over at the woman, a sneer on her face. "You have something to say, bitch?" she growled and the old woman looked even more insulted, getting up from her seat.

"Well, I never!" she snapped, hurrying out of the café. Emory looked around to see other patrons staring and she smirked.

"Anyone else have a problem?" No one said a word and she turned back to Greyback. "I thought so."

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed that. It's always interesting doing the psychology of a werewolf since Remus Lupin and Fenrir Greyback are all I have to go off of from the books. BTW, just saw HP and the Half-Blood Prince and I thought it was pretty good. Your thoughts if you've seen it?**

**Nextbestthing:** Oh, I love the gossipy hormonal side of it. It's so much nicer to write the lighter side of Hogwarts. To be quite honest, I was actually planning to have Landon attack Charlie, but then it seemed a bit odd seeing as Landon was getting very territorial over him and Reilly. Faigan seemed like an easy patsy for Landon to release his 'inner beast' on. I don't actually own the 'Walk to Remember' movie, but I do love it and watch it any time I see it on television.

**The Darkest wizard:** We'll see how Landon is. But as for Greyback, the next couple of chapters will be twisted around the werewolf/Malfoy thing and the upcoming Halloween Ball.

**The Elegant Egotist:** Writing about the kids, it's getting to be my favorite thing at the moment because they're not bound by the characteristics of the books. I can do with them as I wish! Yes, you are moving up! I'll try to update as quickly as possible so as not to disappoint the cool kids! :-)

**MaeSilverpaws1:** True. Draco does have an unusual interest in Ginny and her family, and I think a good question is why he's getting so interested.

**purplegabby123:** You'll have to wait and see what happens to Landon next.

**Chapter Tease:**

_He took the cloth from her and looked it over carefully before growing pale._

"_Albus, we have a problem," he murmured and the Headmaster walked over._

"_What is it?"_

_Remus looked up, fear in his eyes._

"_This belongs to a student…"_


	15. An Unpleasant Message From Our Sponsors

_Hatred is one long wait._ **-René Maran**

* * *

Draco made his way up the stairs, followed closely by Blaise, Goyle and Valance, his mind going over the past couple of days carefully. Greyback, despite his obvious hatred for Draco, had been fairly quiet, much to Draco's disappointment. Though he was biding his time, it was getting irritating to pass up the opportunity to kill the former Death Eater.

They reached the apartment door and Blaise knocked twice, glaring at a couple who had just come out of the place across the hall. When the young couple caught sight of the four, intimidating men, they quickly walked away, whispering quietly to each other while glancing over their shoulders. Goyle snorted at their behavior while Blaise knocked again. They heard movement from inside, the door opened and Rockwell appeared, wearing nothing but a towel. Draco rolled his eyes and moved past the man.

"Nice," he muttered, going into the living room and sitting down.

The others followed suit while Rockwell went into the kitchen and brought out some glasses and a large bottle of fire whiskey. Goyle heard water running and frowned.

"Is someone else in here?"

Rockwell snorted, sitting down. "You should know," he responded with a smirk on his face.

Draco sighed, looking around the apartment disdainfully. "You couldn't get anything better?" he asked. "This place is slightly beneath you."

Rockwell smiled. "Yeah, but the neighbors don't complain when someone starts screaming."

Blaise raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sure they know why someone's screaming."

The two exchanged looks before Rockwell picked up his drink, looking at the amber liquid carefully. "So, Draco, what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"Greyback."

Rockwell snorted and sat up straighter in his seat. "Greyback?" he repeated with a chuckle. "That prick hasn't been around here since he dropped his son off. He has other people checking in."

"Who?"

"Emory," Valance said, pulling out a picture of the blonde woman. It was a typical prison photo, but unlike several others that Draco had seen, the woman was just standing there, twirling her hair and staring blankly into the camera.

"Emory Vince," he whispered, handing the picture over to Blaise, who saw it and laughed.

"There's not much going on up there," he commented and Valance shook his head.

"Don't underestimate her. Her reputation would make Pansy Parkinson look like a puppy."

They all glanced over at Draco, who snorted at the reference, a grin on his face. "Pansy Parkinson got what she deserved," he said. "Emory Vince, fortunately for her, has not made the same mistake."

Goyle looked over the picture and frowned. "Is she the only one?"

Rockwell nodded. "So far. There's been a man slinking around Hogsmeade for a couple of days, but he hasn't done much of anything. Drinks himself silly at Hog's Head," he said, pulling out a photo of the man coming out of the bar. "His name is Ralph Dekker."

They all heard a door open and looked up to see a beautiful young woman come down the hall, a towel matching the one Rockwell had wrapped around her. She ignored the others in the room and tilted her head at Rockwell.

"Are you planning to come back to the shower?" she asked expectantly.

"Who the hell are you?" Draco demanded and she put a hand on her hip, obviously not caring who it was who had stopped by. She pointed to Draco, an irritated look on her face.

"I'm not talking to you, Malfoy," she snapped before turning back to Rockwell. "Colin. Are you coming back or not?"

Valance and Blaise laughed at her bravery and looked over at Rockwell.

"Who is she?" Blaise asked while Draco got up and approached her.

"Attingwood," Rockwell replied.

Valance almost spilled his drink. "Catherine Attingwood?"

The woman turned to look at Valance, eyes narrowed. "No. Rachel. Catherine's sister," she snapped before turning to go back down the hall. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get dressed."

The men turned to Rockwell, who had a grin on his face. "The younger sister? What happened to Catherine?" Valance asked and Rockwell pointed to Goyle.

"Ask Gregory."

"What?"

Rockwell stood up and made his way to the hall. "Apparently, Ms. Attingwood was seeing Goyle at the same time she was seeing me," he explained. "I found out and relieved her of her duties since I happened to be seeing her sister at the same time I was seeing her."

Blaise snorted and began to leave.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually don't miss single life," he muttered. "It's too complicated."

Goyle grinned. "How's shagging a pregnant woman working out for you?"

Surprisingly, Blaise smirked. "Luna's insatiable at the moment. I'm enjoying myself," he said before leaving. The others laughed while Rockwell motioned to the door.

"Well, if you all will excuse me, I'm going to enjoy myself with Rachel before she gets her shoes on."

As Goyle and Valance followed Draco out of the apartment and down the stairs, Draco checked his watch. "Goyle, I want you to figure out what Dekker's doing down here," he ordered. "Take Attingwood with you if you want. Dekker looks like he could use some young skin." Goyle nodded and disapparated quickly. "Valance, I need you to get to the Ministry and get some information from the Auror Department."

"What sort of information?"

"All of the information that links anyone in Hogsmeade and Hogwarts to any registered werewolf from here to Romania," Draco told him, putting on his cloak as they stepped out into the chilled air. "Greyback's too good to have only two dogs watching the castle."

Valance nodded and disapparated, leaving Draco to walk back to Hogwarts. He had just made it to the gates when Hermione Weasley appeared, walking towards him. He waited until she was a couple of feet away before he bothered acknowledging her presence.

"Where's Weasel?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed. "Some things never change," she muttered, more to herself than to him. She brushed some hair behind her ear and tried to smile cordially but failed. "It's nice to see you too, Malfoy. You still look the same. Like a cockroach."

Draco sniffed the air a little and then wrinkled his nose. "Funny. You still smell the same. Like a Mudblood," he responded with a smirk.

The fiery brunette folded her arms over her chest and shifted her weight to one foot. If it had been any other woman, he would have admired her more, even if she was married. He would have even called her beautiful, but the overwhelming fact that the blood that ran through her veins came from a disgusting Muggle only made his skin crawl.

"Now that we've exchanged wonderful pleasantries, what are you doing down here in Hogsmeade?" she asked and he snorted, moving past her.

"Tell your husband that his boss is an arse," he said over his shoulder, bitterness from earlier that afternoon still floating around in his voice.

Hermione hesitated and then turned around to face him. "What are you doing about Greyback?" she demanded, walking over to where he was at the gates.

"I'm dealing with it, Weasley," he replied, watching her with interest as she raised an eyebrow and stared at her with an unusual look in her eyes.

"And just how are you dealing with it?"

Draco shook his head at her and said, "What I do about Greyback is my own business."

"Unless of course you're doing it for Ginny."

"If that's what helps you sleep at night."

A smile passed over Hermione's face, but in reality she was somewhat worried by Draco's short answers. "I'm sure thinking about Ginny helps you sleep at night."

Draco raised an eyebrow at her bluntness and a smirk appeared on his face.

"My, my. It appears that shagging that redheaded buffoon has made you a bit more tolerable," he commented, looking her over. "Perhaps even attractive."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"It's a wonder you two even got together," she muttered. "You're an arse."

Exasperation flooded Draco at her words. He had spent enough time in the company of people who hated him to be surprised by her words. To be honest, he had expected much worse from her especially. Though they had not seen each other at all since his return to England, he knew a lot about her displeasure with his amount of contact with Ginny. Giving her time to express those feelings was a waste of his time.

"Well, as much as I have enjoyed our little exchange, I would rather not be here right now," he said.

Nodding, Hermione turned to leave. There was no other reason for her to stay in the presence of a man who had been nothing but unpleasant to her ever since she had met him.

"I'm surprised you stayed as long as you did. I'm sure there's some under aged girl up there that's waiting for you," she said over her shoulder. "That or you're going up to… hey!"

Draco had grabbed her from behind and dragged her into the woods, crouching down behind some bushes. "Shut it, Mudblood," he growled, looking around intently. "They'll hear us."

Hermione was uncomfortable with how close he was holding her to him, but when she heard a twig snap somewhere close by, she froze, too scared to say anything to him. Her eyes searched frantically through the darkness for anything that would move but she could not see it, nor could Draco. But he could sense it.

The woods around them fell silent and the path leading up to Hogwarts remained empty. After a while, Hermione was beginning to wonder if Draco's reasons for dragging her into the woods were for security purposes or other more sinister plans. She shifted a little in his arms and when his hand began to move up her stomach towards her breasts she hit him in the chest.

"Let go of me," she hissed quickly, trying to pry away. "Malfoy let go." She saw him pull out his wand and her eyes widened. "Oh, don't you-"

"_Petrificus Totalus!_" he hissed, pointing his wand across the path.

There was a squeal and then something hit the ground with a big thump. Finally letting go of Hermione, he got up and strode over to where he had fired while she brushed leaves and twigs out of her hair and cloak.

"What was that about, Malfoy?" she demanded, looking up to find him gone. "Malfoy? Malfoy!"

"Keep your knickers on, I'm right here," came the cold voice.

She turned to see him come out of the woods a few meters down the path, carrying a few scraps of bloody clothes with him. Her eyes widened and she ran over to him.

"What happened? Where did that come from?" she asked intriguingly, picking up one of the pieces. "Is that blood?" Draco nodded, holding up the other pieces. "Did you do it?"

"No."

"Then where did it come from?"

Draco shook his head and looked around. "I don't know, Weasley. But there's someone out there who isn't supposed to be," he said before he began to walk towards the castle. "Come on."

Confusion struck her quickly and she blinked several times, staring at his retreating figure.

"What? Why?"

Draco glanced over his shoulder. "Because I have a feeling that tomorrow morning is going to be a very interesting morning for you."

* * *

Greyback watched Malfoy and Weasley walk away, his eyes narrowing at the words he had heard. Draco was getting soft by allowing the Mudblood to even walk with him. The crack of a twig and the foul stench of urine and alcohol alerted him to the presence of another man. Greyback cringed at the sound of the man's grated voice as it broke through the wooded atmosphere.

"Why didn't you just kill him?"

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to stop the urge to attack the man behind him, Greyback stood up and walked out onto the path, sniffing the air and snarling in disgust.

"Because I don't want to kill him _now_, Dekker," he responded coldly. "Would you care to kill him?"

Dekker paled and shook his head, remaining in the darkness and safe haven of the woods. He pulled out an old watch from his grimy trousers and checked the time.

"I'm fine, thank you."

Another figure appeared from beyond the gates, motioning for them. Greyback moved past the gates and soon all three of them disapparated to a place further within the woods where two others were waiting. Emory wrapped her arms around Greyback's waist and looked over his shoulder at the writhing body of a young girl, bleeding profusely and whimpering as the two men standing over her just grinned.

"We saved her just for you, Fenrir," she whispered into his ear before moving over to where Dekker sulked. The man was clinging to an old flask and she wrinkled her nose when she caught wind of the stale and putrid smell of old bourbon and vomit. Her eyes took in his filthy, moth-eaten robes and mucky boots and she could not help but curl her lips in disgust. "Ugh, Dekker. Even a bastard like you has to know a thing or two about cleanliness."

The man watched as Greyback knelt down over the girl's body and bared his teeth to sink into her skin, downing what was left in his flask as the girl began to scream. He winced painfully at the pitchy noise and the taste of bile and whiskey came to his mouth. It took him a minute to sort out what she had said before he could respond.

"Sod off, Emory," he mumbled drunkenly. "I don't need to hear anything from you."

"You smell like shit," Emory replied spitefully and he turned to her, his blue eyes clouded with alcohol and indifference.

"Go screw Greyback," he grumbled, causing her to take a step back as a foul smell escaped his lips. "So far, it's the only thing you're good for."

"Oh, you're hilarious."

"Funny. I thought I was just laggered," he muttered, taking another swig from his flask. Emory watched him drink for a moment, trying to figure out how the man was still capable of speaking, let alone able to breathe. As far as she knew, bourbon and whiskey were the only things that had passed his lips since he had woken up.

When the screams ended, Greyback stood back up and motioned for the two men to take the body away as he walked over to Emory and Dekker. Blood drenched his entire front, forcing Dekker to look away while Emory just grinned and ran a hand down his chest.

"Enjoying yourself, Dekker?" Greyback asked while keeping his eyes on the blonde. Dekker snorted, leaning on a tree to steady himself.

"I haven't enjoyed myself for years, Greyback," he growled. "I have no intention of doing so."

"You found her."

Emory hissed reproachfully when the inebriated man heaved all of his stomach contents into a bush before pulling out another flask and drinking half of it. He tottered slightly on his feet before he released a deep growl.

"And I'll find more," he muttered, making his way further into the woods.

Greyback watched him leave before he looked down at Emory who happened to be giving him a disapproving look.

"What?"

"He's a liability."

"He's a tracker."

"He's a drunk," she snarled and he rolled his eyes.

"He's good. What he does in his free time, I really don't care."

Emory rolled her eyes and looked over to where the young girl had died. "What are you doing in your free time?" she asked and he smirked.

"I don't think so," he said as the two men reappeared, motioning for him. "I have things to do."

Rolling her eyes, Emory moved away from him and headed in the direction Dekker had taken earlier. "Fine."

* * *

There was a lot of chatter in the Great Hall the day after Landon's episode. The excitement of seeing the boy try to rip Faigan's tongue out was still fresh, leaving them to ask more questions about what had really happened. Reilly and Charlie had been advised to skip breakfast that morning and were brought food up to the Hospital Wing by a couple of elves. Faigan had woken up, making their stay in the infirmary intolerable. He had been yelling up a storm, claiming that Landon had tried to kill him and that his parents were going to sue the school. He had continued to shout until an irate Madame Pomfrey had pulled out a curious vial and forced the boy to drink it. Seconds later, Faigan was once again unconscious and Reilly and Charlie could eat in peace.

Rayne was now sitting with Trent and Lisa, pouring through the Daily Prophet for any information about what had happened. Thankfully for Landon, there was nothing written about Hogwarts at all.

"I wonder where they're keeping him," Trent muttered as he picked up a piece of toast. Lisa nudged him and pointed to the head table where Remus Lupin was currently sitting, talking with Dumbledore secretively.

"I'm sure he has something to do with it."

"Who is he?"

Rayne turned to them. "A friend of Ginny's I think," she whispered, noticing a few students eyeing them carefully. "I heard he was in town."

"What does he do?"

Rayne shrugged and returned to her breakfast. "I wouldn't know. I don't really see him that often," she muttered. A smile came to her lips when she caught sight of Hanna walking towards them. "Heads up, Trent."

He barely had time to swallow his eggs when the seventh year sat down across from him, a timid look on her soft face.

"Hello Trent," she greeted before looking at the other two girls. "You two must be Lisa and Rayne. Trent talks about you two a lot."

Lisa nudged Trent again. "Trent talks a lot about you too," she replied. Hanna smiled, noticing the blush creeping up Trent's neck. However, before she could speak someone called her name and they all turned to see Gordon Quinn, her boyfriend, motioning her over. Trent frowned when the smile on her face completely disappeared and was replaced by a blank stare.

"Um, well… I just came over to say hello," she said distractedly, her eyes still on Gordon. When she didn't move, Lisa cleared her voice and Hanna jumped a little before turning to Trent. "Actually, I was wondering if you were busy tonight."

There was a brief pause before Trent cleared his throat and kicked Rayne from under the table, noticing the beginning of a laugh on her lips.

"What?"

Hanna bit her lip, glancing over at Gordon again. "I… um… I wanted to talk to you about something," she repeated.

"About what?" Trent asked eagerly and suddenly she looked completely uncomfortable, finally settling her eyes on him.

"Can we talk about this later?"

Rayne instantly identified the look on the girl's eyes and shared a glance with Lisa before she interrupted.

"Um… Hanna. Who are you going to the Halloween Ball with?" she asked and to their surprise, a frown appeared on Hanna's face. She shifted a little in her seat before she stood up.

"Um… I have to go. I'll see you at seven outside of the library," she mumbled and then walked off, leaving the Great Hall, followed quickly by her boyfriend. Trent frowned, his heart sinking at that sight.

"What was that about?" Lisa asked, turning to Trent. "What did you do?"

He shrugged, still looking upset about the entire encounter. "I don't know…She's acting strange."

Rayne tilted her head at him. "She wants to talk to you," she reminded him. "It sounded important."

Before anything else could be said, a woman with bright purple hair came running into the Hall with three other men following quickly after. She stopped half way and motioned to the professors sitting at the head table.

"Albus!" she gasped. "Come quickly! Hurry!"

Once again the Great Hall exploded with tense energy as students began shifting and talking all the while watching the professors leave.

* * *

Ron looked up when Tonks reappeared and pointed further into the forest.

"We found more over there," he said before noticing Dumbledore and stood up. "Dumbledore, there's something you need to see."

Dumbledore moved over to the redhead, looking down to what the man was kneeling over. "What is it?"

"A blood trail," Ron explained, standing up and leading the group further down the trampled path. "Fang picked up the scent and Hagrid found this."

They ended up in a small clearing and McGonagall gasped, placing a hand over her mouth. Draco and Snape exchanged glances while Dumbledore shook his head in sadness at what he saw.

"Oh my God," Remus murmured.

The bloody remains of last night's midnight special lay in the center of the clearing, displaying her ripped clothes, perpetual scream and unseeing eyes that only added to the nightmare. Apart from the bloody path leading back to where they had met Ron, there was no signs of struggle.

"Is she a student?" Moody asked, standing on the other side of the clearing with another Auror. They all took a tentative step closer, careful not to step on the blood and torn clothing. McGonagall gasped and turned to Dumbledore. "Albus," she whispered fearfully. "It's Eleanor Welch. The Head Girl."

Surprise crossed all of their faces.

"Seriously?" Ron asked, looking over the girl quickly. "What was she doing out here? All students were supposed to be in their Houses."

Draco leaned over the body and the moment he saw the neck, his eyes went to Snape. "Greyback," he said. _He's getting bored,_ he added silently.

Waiting a long time to kill a certain special someone would do that to a man in such a situation. Draco was having urges himself, but he had managed to contain himself from dispatching a poor third year who got on his nerves. Greyback was more fortunate. He had options…

Moody came over and reminded Draco that he too had options as well… not as appealing, but certainly just as fulfilling. "How do you know?" the Auror asked.

Rolling his eyes, Draco moved around to examine the rest of the body. "Well, unless she was mauled by a bear," he muttered, pointing to the other nasty bites on the insipid skin. "Two brought her down and then Greyback killed her."

"You seem uncommonly versed in the nature of attacks," Remus commented as he began searching the edge of the clearing.

Draco smirked. "I pride myself on knowing as much as possible about your kind, Lupin," he replied and surprisingly, Remus laughed a little at the comment.

"You don't know the first thing about my kind, Malfoy."

Draco glanced over at the purple haired woman and caught her watching Remus with a strange look on her face. A knowing smile came on his face and he walked over to where the former professor stood.

"Perhaps. But I have a feeling Ms. Tonks over there knows a lot about your kind," he whispered before going further into the woods. Remus felt the blood rush to his face as he glanced over his shoulder to where Tonks was standing, supervising the removal of the girl's body. He felt a momentary flutter in his heart at the sight of her, but shook his head and returned to searching for any other sign of Greyback. He could not allow himself to be distracted by her.

"Albus, I need you to make a list of all students who are missing," Moody requested, watching as a couple of Aurors levitated the boy out of the clearing. "And I'm going to put extra guards on the gate and doors."

Snape shook his head. "I don't think that's necessary," he drawled carefully.

"Why not?"

Snape motioned to the area where the body had been. "Because full moon is at the end of this week and the moment you put guards outside of the castle, Greyback will have more of an incentive to come closer than he obviously already is," he responded. "It would be better if we just kept the students in doors."

Draco and Ron snorted at the same time. "Because that worked so well before," they both muttered, looking up to stare at each other for a moment before returning to their search, a little appalled that their mindset had been identical.

"The Halloween Ball is on Friday, though," McGonagall pointed out. "It would be best if the students had some sort of protection."

Snape shook his head. "Minerva, the Ball has been held in the Great Hall for the past eleven years for a reason," he said, his eyes training on Draco momentarily. "Aurors were part of that problem."

"I found something," Tonks interrupted from behind a bush. She stood up, holding up a ripped school shirt. "Albus… the girl who was killed… what House was she in?"

"She was a Hufflepuff," McGongall couldn't help but answer quickly, exchanging a nervous glance with Dumbledore before turning away from the scene. Remus walked over to where Tonks stood.

"What is it?" he asked. He took the clothing from her and looked it over carefully before growing pale.

"Albus, we have a problem," he murmured and the Headmaster walked over.

"What is it?"

Remus looked up, fear in his eyes. "This belongs to a student…"

Ron frowned. "A student was just killed, Remus," he stated and the man shook his head, holding up the shirt for them all to see.

"This doesn't belong to a Hufflepuff. It has the Slytherin insignia," he pointed out before sniffing it. "And this boy wasn't attacked."

Suddenly they all realized that the point of the man's statement was not to indicate another victim and fear spread through most of them. McGonagall paled considerably and pointed to the shirt.

"Remus, are you insinuating that a _student_ did that to poor Ms. Welch?" she asked shakily.

Remus shook his head. "No. The marks on that girl were too precise for such a young werewolf."

"Then what are you saying Remus?" Tonks asked, drawing his attention to her. Their eyes met briefly before he tore away, moving over to Dumbledore and handing the shirt over.

"I'm saying that Landon Greyback is not the only werewolf you have at the school."

**A/N: Dun! Dun! DUN! :-) ****Okay, so this is no laughing matter, but I hope you liked it anyway. I know there was not as much 'Hogwarty' stuff as you might have liked, but with the Ball coming closer, you can bet that there will be. **

**nextbestthing:** I love those moments. It sort of just shows that Ron has sort of forgiven Draco for what he did to Ginny. (shrugs) Perhaps?

**The Darkest wizard:** And sweet Greyback is hunting Draco. The perfect circle. As for dueling, as you can see by the way Mr. Werewolf is acting, he has no intentions of getting into any sort of fight with Draco at the present moment. Maybe later.

**purplegabby123:** Well, I would like that to happen to, but I think we'll have to make due with the memories those two are having of each other for now. (I'm not making any promises) The idea of making Ginny run back to Draco and for them to have some 'together time' is difficult in and of itself just for the fact that Ginny tends to want to do the right thing, Jason's being a complete sweetheart and Draco's being… well, he's being Draco, which is not much of an incentive at the present moment for her to shag him. We'll have to see how things play out. And yes, I cannot wait until the next two movies!

**MaeSilverpaws1:** Thank you so much! I'm very happy that you like them.

**The Elegant Egotist:** I'm glad you liked it. I do love Reilly and Charlie and while they were not really in this chapter, I find them amazing. (If I do say so myself) We don't really see Remus interact with Greyback or any other werewolf in the books so I thought I'd try and see how something like that would be portrayed. I think as time goes on we'll start seeing (hopefully) the old Draco and Ginny start to show. (I suppose Ginny is acting more like her older self than Draco is. Like Greyback, I think he'll start becoming more aggressive. As for the Halloween Ball, I believe that is in the next couple of chapters and hopefully it will be much longer than the one in **Drift**. Perhaps two chapters rather than one. Or maybe just one long chapter. Well, until next time!

**Nature Calls: **Oh gosh, yes. I'm loving Draco right now because you can definitely tell that he's doing everything not to return to his former 'homicidal' self. I'm glad you like the plot so much. I'm going to try to give you guys a bit more D/G, but with their current situation, it's going to be a bit difficult.

**Chapter Tease: **

"_I hope you didn't come here for a shag," she muttered, flipping through the papers. _

"_That crossed my mind."_

_Her eyes met his before she pointed to the door. _

"_You can go now."_

**Sorry it's not as interesting as the ones before, but the next chapter doesn't have much screaming or actiony parts. **


	16. The Faces that Launched a Thousand Ships

_Women speak two languages - one of which is verbal. _**-William Shakespeare**

* * *

"How are you feeling this evening?"

Rayne grinned when she felt the warm lips of her boyfriend land on her neck and turned a little in her seat to look him in the eye. "I'm feeling much better," she replied, allowing him to kiss her again.

He was about to pull her up to him when Madame Prince popped out from behind a shelf and hit him over the head with her wand. "We'll have none of that here," the old woman snapped and Nicholas quickly sat down, glaring as the librarian disappeared again behind another shelf, following a nervous first year stealthily.

"The old bat needs to get shagged," he muttered bitterly and Rayne's eyes widened.

"Nicholas," she gasped, hitting him in the arm. "That's highly inappropriate."

Nicholas smiled and leaned in to kiss her neck gently, his nerves coming to attention when she rested a hand on his thigh and shivered. "How would you like me to act then?" he asked, nuzzling her ear with his nose and making her eyes close momentarily before she hit him in the stomach and picked up her book, a deep blush rushing up her face.

"I don't want you to act any way at the present moment, Nicholas," she replied and he sighed, sitting up straight in his seat.

"You're no fun," he muttered, pulling out some of his homework. Rayne looked up at him and tilted her head to the side.

"How are you holding up?" she asked curiously and it took him a moment to realize what she was talking about.

"Oh, Eleanor?" She nodded and he shrugged, a strange look on his face. "We didn't really talk to each other that much. Just when we needed to. She had a thing about Slytherins."

Rayne pulled out a piece of parchment and began writing something down before she spoke again.

"Who's going to be her replacement?" she asked and when he didn't answer, she looked up to see his face growing a little red. "Nicholas, who's going to replace her?"

He seemed to hesitate for a moment before he shrugged and returned to his homework. "A Ravenclaw, I think," he told her as he jotted down a couple of notes. She could tell he was keeping something from her and took a hold of his hand, stopping him from writing down anything else.

"What Ravenclaw?" Again, he seemed reluctant to answer and this bothered her greatly. Nicholas rarely held things from her. "Is it someone I know?"

At this question, his entire face turned beet red and his eyes refused to meet hers. She could feel the heat radiating off of his face and hit him in the arm, tired of what was going on. "Nicholas Kane, who is the next Head Girl?" she demanded and he turned to her, an apologetic look on his face.

"Jane Stolls," he said quickly and immediately he saw the blood drain from her face. He reached out to take her hand but she pulled it away, turning to face the desk as disgust filled her eyes.

"_Jane Stolls_," she muttered. The Ravenclaw girl was Nicholas' ex-girlfriend and his first in every single meaning of the phrase. They had started dating in his fifth year and had broken up shortly before he and Rayne had gotten together. The two had had a very physical relationship that had ended up being the reason they had broken up, bringing some problems into Rayne's relationship with Nicholas. Jane Stolls was an extremely attractive brunette with perfect curves and while she had gone through several boyfriends since her break up with Nicholas, was on a mission to win him back.

Nicholas understood Rayne's displeasure in hearing that he would be sharing the Head Dorms with such a girl.

"Rayne-"

"Ugh!" Rayne slammed her head against the table and remained there for a while, causing him to hesitate before he touched her shoulder.

"Rayne, you know I don't like her, right?"

She turned her head to look up at him.

"I know, but that's not the problem," she grumbled, reaching out to take his hand and kiss his fingers. "She wants you."

"I want you."

"She's _had_ you," Rayne snapped, sitting up straight and letting go of his hand. "And according to her, you're amazing."

Nicholas tilted his head to the side and gave her an obvious look. "That report could come from you," he whispered and she hit him in the arm, giving him one of the most unforgiving glares he had ever seen. "Sorry! I was just kidding."

Rayne shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with the entire situation. While he made light of his relationship with Stolls, when the two had been an item, he had continuously boasted to anyone within hearing distance about their relationship before it had begun to stale. Rayne was fully aware of the fact that Jane Stolls was a force to be reckoned with and the fact that only a wall was going to separate the Ravenclaw from Nicholas only made things worse. That and the fact that she had been second in line to receive the Head Girl position made Rayne feel somewhat inadequate.

"I don't like this," she muttered miserably and Nicholas sighed.

"Rayne, you know I don't like her anymore."

"That's not the point, Nicholas, and you know it," she snapped angrily, getting up from the table and walking behind a shelf to put back a couple of books. Nicholas followed her at a safe distance.

"Oh come off it," Nicholas retorted, grabbing her wrist and forcing her to look at him. "You honestly think she's going to try to get back with me?" A look of indignation crossed Rayne's face and she yanked her wrist out of his grip, continuing on to another aisle of books. He could tell he had just insulted her in some way and sighed, hurrying over to try to make it right. "Look, Rayne. I'm sorry for…" He trailed off when a couple of girls in his House walked into the aisle. He waited impatiently for them to find what they were looking for before he returned to Rayne. "I'm sorry for all of this. But blimey, you can't believe that I _wanted_ it to happen. I was actually suggesting Christine what's her name. The Hufflepuff with the strange accent."

Rayne's mood seemed to immediately change after hearing this information and she allowed him to take her hand as she finished putting away her book. She leaned up and kissed his cheek softly.

"I'm sorry I got mad… it's just…"

"Uncomfortable," Nicholas finished, leading the way back to their table. He waited until she was sitting before he leaned into her ear. "Between you and me, I wouldn't want to have another go with Jane."

Rayne bit her lip and frowned. "Why?"

Nicholas snorted and returned to reading his book. "She snores."

"Nick!"

"Shhh!!!!" Madame Prince hissed, glaring reproachfully at them. Rayne hesitated and waited until the old woman was gone before she turned and hit Nicholas in the back of the head.

"Prick," she snapped.

"You don't snore."

Rayne's eyes widened and she hit him again, looking around quickly to see who was in hearing distance. "Don't say that too loud," she hissed. "Someone will get the wrong idea."

Choosing not to make another remark about their present relationship, Nicholas just agreed and began writing down notes for his class. Satisfied, Rayne did the same thing, smiling occasionally when his foot nudged hers playfully.

Rayne and Nicholas looked up from their books when Trent came over and sat down across from them in the library. The couple exchanged a glance before Rayne spoke.

"Are you meeting Hanna here?" she asked curiously while Nicholas tried not to smile. She had told him earlier that day about the incident at breakfast and it had amused him greatly about all the drama that was going into the Halloween Ball.

"Yes," Trent replied, continually glancing down at his watch. "She said seven."

Nicholas looked over his Potions book carefully and wrote something down before focusing his attention on his girlfriend's friend.

"Listen, mate. You need to relax," he advised. "You don't want her thinking you're nervous to see her."

Rayne nodded in agreement. "Nick is right. You need to calm down. You two have talked before. I doubt this is any different."

Trent nodded and they were quiet for a while. Then Nicholas noticed Draco Malfoy walk into the library and hesitated.

"Um… I'll see you later, Rayne," he whispered, kissing her cheek quickly before he got up and left, maneuvering around the shelves to avoid being seen by the DADA professor. Trent smiled.

"He's still nervous?"

Rayne rolled her eyes.

"That's not his biggest problem. I just found out that Jane Stolls, his ex-girlfriend, is going to be the new Head Girl," she told her friend.

"Seriously?" She nodded. "Bloody hell. That's going to be interesting."

Rayne was about to reply when she caught sight of Hanna Thomas walking in, looking a bit upset about something. Trent noticed and hesitated.

"She doesn't seem too happy."

"Probably that boyfriend of hers."

"What do you think she wants to talk about?"

Rayne hit him in the shin and pointed to the girl. "Go ask her," she snapped before returning to her book. Trent gave her a look before he stood up and walked over to where Hanna stood, a cautious smile on his face. He was once again surprised by how quickly she smiled when she saw him and his heart pounded so hard that he was sure she could hear it.

"Thanks for coming," she greeted, making her way towards the exit. Trent frowned, glancing over his shoulder to where Rayne was watching them.

"We're leaving?"

Hanna nodded. "I didn't want to say where we were going in front of your friends," she told him as they made their way down the hall at a casual pace. "I didn't want them to get the wrong impression."

Trent looked over at her. "What impression is that?" he asked and could have sworn he saw her blush, even under her dark skin. But perhaps it was just the fire playing tricks on him.

"We're going to the prefect bathroom, Trent," she replied, giving him an obvious look. "What sort of impression do you think would have gone through their minds if I had asked to meet you there initially?"

He shrugged, trying to keep the mood light even though his heart was now pounding against his chest like some caged beast and he had to tell himself to breath evenly so as not to arouse her suspicions. "That you wanted to take a bath?"

Hanna laughed, an angelic noise that caused him to trip over himself. She reached out to grab him, an amused smile on her face. "Are you okay?" she asked as she continued to giggle. He nodded, his entire face growing red.

"Sorry," he mumbled and they walked along in silence for a couple of minutes. "Um… Hanna… why are we going to the prefect bathroom?"

She sensed his hesitation and she looked up at him.

"I just wanted to show you something." He raised an eyebrow at her and she burst out laughing, hitting him in the arm. "Not _that_ something!"

Trent smiled. "Yeah, I figured that much," he muttered. Again, he could have sworn she blushed, but he decided to pass it off as the way the light passed over her cheeks.

They finally reached the prefect bathroom and after she said the password, he followed her in.

"So this is what it looks like," he muttered, taking in the fountains and beautiful marble floors. He walked over to one of the windows and his eyes widened at how much he could see. "Wicked…" His eyes then caught sight of the mermaid in the glass and when she waved at him, he hesitated and timidly waved back. "Um… What did you want to talk to me abou… Hanna?" He found himself facing an empty bathroom and frowned, looking around quickly. "Hanna, where did you go?" For a few minutes he looked around for her, but because he was not familiar with the bathroom, he was unable to look everywhere. "Hanna!"

"Right here."

He turned around and nearly died right there of a heart attack. Hanna Thomas looked absolutely beautiful. The Halloween Ball had been announced as a masquerade and she did not disappoint the tradition. A gorgeous strapless black dress graced her body and fanned out with a baby blue train. The bodice split around the hip, giving way to a Halloween orange that only added to the beauty of the dress and the young woman wearing it. The mask on her face covered all but her lips. It was black and laced with blue string and had beautiful large wing-like ears. She had pulled her hair up into a pony tail so that the mask would fit.

If he did not know who was under there, he would have never recognized her.

"Tada!" she pronounced, spinning around so that he could see the entire dress. "Well?"

Having trouble breathing, Trent could not think straight enough to produce an accurate enough statement as to what was going on in his mind. All he could do was stare at her in amazement. When he did not respond, she bit her lip and became self-conscious, tugging on her mask a little.

"You don't like it do you…" she murmured before looking down at her dress. She suddenly looked embarrassed and began to turn to the room she had just come from. That was when Trent came to and jerked a little before walking quickly over to her.

"No, wait," he called and she turned around again, facing him. His eyes moved over her with more appreciation and he smiled. "You look… beautiful…"

A smile reappeared on her face and she removed her mask, looking up at him.

"I… um… I got this a week ago and I wanted a man's point of view," she told him.

"Why didn't you ask Gordon?" he asked without thinking and just as quickly as it had appeared her smile left, replaced by confusion and mild irritation. She looked down at her dress before shaking her head.

"I… I wanted it to be a surprise," she muttered. She took a deep breath and tried to smile again. "I… I should go change…"

Trent frowned and reached out to take her hand, stopping her from leaving.

"Wait," he said and blushed when her eyes moved down to the hand clutching hers. He let her go and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to sort through the many questions rampaging through his mind. "Why did you ask me?"

Hanna shrugged, looking back down at her dress.

"I just wanted to know what you thought about my costume," she replied as firmly as possible.

"But I was going to see you at the Ball. Why would it matter now?"

He could quickly see that his questioning was bothering her greatly and she began backing away, shaking her head and looking extremely uncomfortable.

"Why are you asking so many questions?"

"Because I'm trying to figure out why you asked me to the prefect bathroom to watch you model your costume for the Halloween Ball instead of your boyfriend?"

This time he was sure that she was blushing. The look on her face was of complete discomfort and embarrassment and she turned around to walk away. "I just wanted to know what you thought, Trent," she muttered. "Forget I even asked."

Immediately Trent regretted his earlier statement and walked around her, blocking her way back to the side room.

"Hanna, I'm sorry," he blurted out. When she stopped, he reached out and took her hand. "I shouldn't have said what I did."

They stared at each other for a moment before Hanna nodded, moving around him.

"I'll go change," she whispered, disappearing into the room. Trent waited for a few minutes and then she came back out with a bag.

"How did you get changed so fast?" he asked and she grinned coyly, moving past him towards the exit.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

Trent followed her out and they walked in a tense silence for a while before he spoke.

"Um… are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"I'm fine, Trent," she whispered, wrapping her arms around herself and shivering a little. For a moment he had the urge to wrap his arm around her and pull her to him, but he quickly tossed the idea by fear of her rejecting him. She glanced over at him and bit her lip. "So… are you going to the Ball with anyone?"

Trent laughed and shook his head.

"Yeah, right," he muttered.

"You didn't ask anyone?" He shook his head again and she frowned, but this time it seemed as if she were somewhat disappointed instead of just surprised or curious. "Why not?"

His eyes met hers briefly and he shrugged.

"There was no one that I wanted to ask," he replied.

Hanna's eyes seemed to glaze over for a couple of seconds, the look on her face hard to read.

"Oh…" She looked down at her hands and took a deep breath, trying her best to sound casual. She quickly searched for something to say. "Gordon didn't actually ask me until this afternoon."

Trent tripped over himself and almost fell to the ground. She stopped and waited timidly as he righted himself, his face flushed and his eyes wide.

"Really?"

She offered him a sort of twitch of the shoulder before she continued walking, slowing only to let him catch up.

"Yes."

"Why did he wait so long?" he asked curiously.

"I don't know… he can be thick sometimes," she muttered with such bitterness that he stopped again, staring at her in surprise. She looked over her shoulder and frowned.

"What?"

Trent stared at her for a moment before he shook his head. Sometimes Hanna was a mystery to him. When they talked, she rarely, if ever, brought up Gordon. It seemed as if the mention of his name were taboo sometimes. But when she did mention him, she had always been good at mentioning how wonderful and loving he was with her. This was perhaps the first time he had ever heard her be blunt about her boyfriend and it was rather refreshing.

"Nothing… I was just thinking about your costume," he whispered, walking over to her and looking into her eyes. "You looked beautiful." Hanna smiled and this time he could feel the heat radiating from her face. "You still look beautiful."

Hanna bit her lip, her heart racing when she saw his eyes move down to her lips briefly. However, when he took a step towards her, she blinked rapidly and turned to walk away.

"I have to go finish a paper," she mumbled. "I'll see you later."

Trent watched her leave quickly, practically sprinting down the hall, confusion flooding him. What had that been all about?

* * *

"Turning in, Ginny?"

The woman looked up to see Winston, a co-worker, standing at her door with a smile on his face. She smiled back and shook her head. "Not yet, Winston," she replied, motioning to the papers on her desk. "I have a few more things to finish before I'm done. Jason is actually coming to pick me up. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night then," the man said, waving as he walked off down the hall. Ginny returned to reading a report placed in front of her, trying her best to concentrate as several lights in the hall turned off, indicating that she should probably leave soon. She hated staying late. The Ministry had never been a place she liked to be at night. But she had to stay until Jason came to pick her up. They were supposed to go over the Burrow for dinner together.

"Always working."

Startled, she jumped out of her seat and looked up to see Draco Malfoy leaning against the door jam, watching her with a smirk on his face. Frowning, she looked past him down the hall before she sat back down.

"How did you get in here?" she asked tersely, shifting through her papers.

"Do you really want to know?"

Ginny looked up at him briefly before shaking her head. "No. But I do want to know why you're here."

Draco shrugged, walking further into her office and looking around with very little interest in his cold grey eyes.

"Is it hard to believe that a man would want to come see his ex-wife?" he asked and she laughed.

"Did Moody try to arrest you again?"

A smile appeared on his face and she felt her heart flutter slightly before she quickly swallowed the feeling and watched him sit down in front of her.

"I'm actually here for the report on Elenor Welch's body," he replied. "Dumbledore asked me to."

Ginny faltered for a moment before she straightened in her seat and leaned forward. "The girl who died?" He nodded silently, looking her straight in the eyes and she instantly knew what had happened. "Greyback."

"Yes."

She could not help but stare at him for a while, her mind racing with so many questions and memories of the man sitting in front of her. "Why did you come here then?" she heard herself ask.

"No particular reason."

Again, her mind began surging with energy while her heart began beating quickly. But she ignored it all and returned to her report. "I hope you didn't come here for a shag," she muttered, flipping through the papers.

"That crossed my mind."

Her eyes met his before she pointed to the door. "You can go now."

"Sick of me already?"

"I have other things to worry about than my randy ex-husband, Draco," she snapped and he raised an eyebrow.

"Like your randy fiancé?"

"He's not randy," she retorted, standing up. His eyes roved over her in a fashion she had not seen in a long time and she unconsciously shuddered a little. He noticed and smirked.

"No… I suppose he wouldn't be," he replied coolly as he stood up as well. "He just likes to stare at your breasts."

Ginny's eyes widened at his sudden crass and she pointed to the door. "Out! Now!" she yelled, moving around her desk to shove him towards the door.

"You seem a bit put out, Weasley. Is something wrong?"

"Yeah. You're being an arse. Get out," she snapped, managing to get him to the door before he stopped and turned around so fast that she bumped right into his chest.

"Are you sure that's it?" he asked when he saw a deep blush cover her entire face. She glared up at him.

"You are so full of it if you think for one second that I even have the _slightest_ of feelings for you anymore," she hissed. "Now get out."

Draco leaned in, a knowing smirk on his face but in his eyes she could see something she had hoped beyond everything else that she would never see again. "You may have everyone else fooled into thinking that when it comes to me, you're a cold-hearted bitch," he growled, making her flinch. "But don't think for a moment that you can fool yourself into thinking the exact same thing. You and I both know better."

"Ginny?"

Draco turned around to see Jason walking down the hall, surprise on his face. Immediately Draco's face changed into one of fake amiability that would fool anyone. "Jason Conwell, how nice to see you," he greeted in such a mockingly pleasant way that it took everything in Ginny's power not to throw up. Even the smile on his face was condescending as he stepped to the side so that Ginny could see her fiancé. Jason eyed Draco carefully as he moved over to stand beside the redhead.

"Malfoy," he replied cautiously. "I thought you hated the Ministry."

Draco glanced over to Ginny briefly.

"I've had a few interesting moments," he said and immediately a raging blush filled her face, indicating that she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"And you decided to check in on Ginny?"

A look from Ginny gave Draco enough reason to grin and shrug. "Reilly said hello. I thought I'd be a gentleman and pass off the message," he offered before turning to leave. "Good night."

When he disappeared down the hall, Jason turned to Ginny and caught a weird look in her eyes before she looked up at him. "Are you ready to go?" he asked and she smiled, nodding.

"Yeah, um… let me get my bag and put those reports away," she said, going over to her desk to shuffle through her papers. Jason watched her carefully, noticing the blush that was on her cheeks and the way her hands shook a little as she gathered up her things. He had seen how close Draco Malfoy had been standing to her when he had come.

He just hoped that nothing was going on besides Malfoy's little games.

**A/N: Okay, so this chapter did not do much to forward the plotline, but hopefully you liked it nonetheless!**

**Who's up first?**

**Nature Calls:** I'm glad you like the story so much. Oh, I have a lot of evil intentions, but you shall have to wait to read them.

**Nori:** Well, hello Nori and welcome back to the world of FanFiction! I am happy that my story pleased you. Believe me, I was having the same thoughts towards the end of **Drift** as well, which is probably why I gave Pansy such a vicious death. I'll try to update as quickly as possible. I love Jason as well. He's sort of the guy every girl's parents wish she would come home with. And Draco is the man _no parent_ wants their daughter to bring home. He's a sweetie. Oh please don't hate Charlie! He's a really good kid. Is there anything I could do (besides kill him) that would make you like him again? I want to keep my reviewers happy! (not too happy or then it's bad for me, but still…) Laurie is the "future" daughter of Draco and Ginny from **Drift**. Basically the daughter they would have had if Lucius hadn't been a prick.

**The Darkest wizard:** Thanks for the review. Believe me, I want them to get together too, but at the moment, in my mind Ginny wants to loathe Draco for no other reason than just to be able to avoid the alternative. :-)

**purplegabby123:** Well, the full moon is the day after the ball, so that chapter will be interesting when it comes to Landon, Charlie and Reilly.

**Nextbestthing:** Thanks for the help with the chapter. Dekker was actually my favorite part of that whole chapter.

**The Elegant Egotist:** I loved that scene. It was so much fun to write. I love your description of Draco right now. I think as time goes on, you'll start seeing a lot more of the old Draco Malfoy appearing at the most inopportune times. :-) Fun.

**Sorry guys. This time no chapter tease. Obviously the next chapter is mainly about the Halloween Masquerade Ball. I haven't really thought that far ahead yet. **


	17. Welcome to the Masquerade

_We've got the fire, who's got the matches?  
Take a look around at the sea of masks.  
Come one! Come all! Welcome to the grand ball!  
Where the strong run for cover and the weak stand tall…_

**Welcome to the Masquerade by Thousand Foot Krutch**

* * *

"Could you two hurry up?! We're already late and Rayne should have been down there by now," Trent called up from his spot at the bottom of the girl's staircase.

"Wait a tick, Trent! Lisa can't find her mask!" Rayne replied with mild irritation. He had been calling up incessantly for the past couple of minutes and with all of the preparation the two girls had gone through to get ready, their friend was quickly becoming an annoyance.

"The Head Girl and Boy have to enter the ball with their dates! You're late!"

"I'm very aware of that, Trent. Shut up!"

Rolling his eyes, he glanced over at the clock on the wall impatiently. It was not their tardiness that was bugging him. It was Hanna's mysterious behavior. Since he had seen her costume, she had avoided him like the plague and his friends, despite their knowing looks and giggles, had refused to help him decipher Hanna's actions. _You'll figure it out eventually,_ Lisa had told him. _And if you don't by the Ball then we'll tell you_, Rayne had added with a grin. He hadn't and now he desperately wanted to know what was going on.

"Oh bloody he-"

"We're ready!" Rayne announced, hurrying down the stairs with Lisa right behind her. Both girls looked absolutely gorgeous. Lisa donned an amazing sapphire gown with white trimming and elbow high gloves. A silver cross completed the arrangement along with a simple white mask. Rayne contrasted her friend beautifully with an emerald gown that accented her hair and skin perfectly. It hung off of her shoulders and the back ran low. The skirt was feather light and flowed easily as she moved. She wore fingerless black gloves and the black mask she had was supported by a black stick. Both girls had their hair slicked back into tight buns.

"Wow," Trent mumbled and Lisa snorted.

"Oh, now he's silent," she snapped, but twirling around nonetheless for her friend to admire her.

"You two look… beautiful," he whispered. "Brilliant."

Lisa blushed, putting on her mask. Rayne followed suit, covering her face and curtsying to Trent.

"Will the brave soul escort us down?" she asked innocently and Trent rolled his eyes again, holding out his arms for them to take. They made their way past the singing Fat Lady and began their descent to the Great Hall.

"Are you two going to tell me why Hanna showed me her outfit now?" Trent asked after a moment of silence. Immediately the girls burst out into giggles and he released a frustrated sigh. "This isn't funny."

Rayne touched Trent's shoulder. "Why do you think she showed you her costume?" she asked and he shrugged.

"She told me she wanted a man's perspective."

Lisa released a disbelieving snort and patted Trent on the shoulder pityingly. "And you believed that?"

"Why would she lie to me?"

"She wasn't lying to you, Trent," Rayne answered. "But if she _really_ wanted a man's opinion she wouldn't have asked you. She would have asked some third year, not someone who was going to be there."

Trent was getting impatient. He wanted to know what was going on. "Then why did she ask me to see her costume?" he asked just as they reached the area outside of the Great Hall. Many students had already gone in, but McGonagall was still outside with Nicholas Kane, Jane Stolls and the Ravenclaw Seeker, Adam something or other.

"It's a masquerade ball, Trent," Lisa said as they walked down the stairs. "Almost everyone's wearing a mask."

"So?"

Rayne and Lisa exchanged a glance before Rayne moved away from them. "Now you can identify her," Rayne said over her shoulder while Lisa led him into the Great Hall.

"There you are Ms. Malfoy," McGonagall said and the others turned around to see the young woman. Nicholas' eyes widened instantly and a huge smirk appeared on his formerly perturbed face. Jane Stolls just glared at Rayne as she moved over beside her boyfriend, fiddling with her mask nervously.

"Sorry I'm late," she apologized. "My friend couldn't find her mask and I was helping her."

McGonagall accepted the explanation with thin lips and began explaining to them the responsibilities of the Head Girl and Boy and what the two couples would be expected to do throughout the night. As she spoke, Nicholas slipped his arm around Rayne's waist and pulled her closer.

"You look beautiful," he whispered with such sincerity that she was forced to look up at him to make sure that the words had actually escaped his lips. He smiled and winked before returning to listening to the Gryffindor Head of House, all the while running his thumb up and down the small of her back lightly.

"I hope I will not have to remind you all that as Heads, you will be expected to set an example. Affection is allowed, but I suggest you keep it to an appropriate degree," McGonagall informed them curtly and Nicholas' hand was reinstated at his side, much to Rayne's displeasure. "I thought so… oh, the music has begun. Go on."

Jane Stolls gave Rayne one last glare before she and her date led the way into the Great Hall. The Hall was decorated with an obvious Halloween theme. Carved pumpkins hovered above them, glowing and laughing at them all silently while dark clouds moved slowly past a moon in the ceiling. Orange and black banners were strung from the walls and even the ghosts were flying around, interacting with one another and causing a couple of students to pale. Applause commenced to ring throughout the area as they entered and several people wolf-whistled when they saw Rayne come in.

"This is so embarrassing," she muttered, her grip on Nicholas' arm tightening.

"You don't like being the center of attention for a while?"

"I don't like being displayed like a piece of art," she replied. "This is unbelievable."

Nicholas grinned. "Well, it's about to get better," he told her as they walked onto the dance floor. He turned to face her and she rolled her eyes, positioning her mask in her hand so that she would not have to worry about it. "Here we go."

Because of the rigidness of the dance and the eyes that followed their movements, Nicholas refrained from any action that would cross McGonagall's affection boundary, making the dance a little more uncomfortable as he and Rayne swayed with the music. Rayne took the time to look around and see if she could spot anyone she knew, but with the amount of people wearing masks, it seemed as if she would be doomed to interact with others as is customary for a masquerade. She picked out the professors easily, especially Draco Malfoy, who was standing in the corner with Severus Snape, dressed in black and looking just as impenetrable as he had since she had met him. She managed to catch his eyes with a smile and to her surprise he offered a smirk before he began to talk to Severus.

"Who are you smiling at?" Nicholas asked and Rayne motioned to where Draco was standing. "Oh…"

"He likes you, you know," she whispered.

"Really? It was hard to tell when he threatened to cut off my members," he replied quickly and she pinched him in the arm.

"That's not appropriate."

"You say that now, but if you had heard the words he used, you wouldn't think I was being so brash."

Rayne looked up at him and smiled. "I've heard enough language come out of Draco's mouth to know I don't want any to come out of yours," she whispered. "We're here to have fun."

Nicholas grinned. "We can have fun."

* * *

"This reminds me of your Halloween Ball," Severus whispered as other students began to join the Head students and their dates on the dance floor. The music, conducted by Flitwick, was jovial yet eerily dark at the same time as several masked students twirled around, laughing and chatting excitedly with one another. A complete contrast to the uncomfortable situation proposed eleven years ago by Snape himself.

"How so?" Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

"A sixth year Gryffindor with her Head Boy Slytherin," Severus murmured with an amused smirk.

"People died," Draco pointed out.

"It could end the same way."

"I'd prefer if Rayne didn't end up dying in some hospital."

Severus stood up straighter. "Ah yes… I almost forgot about that," he said, turning to Draco. "Funny what we remember after so many years."

"Forgetting things can screw you over," Draco growled.

"I'm still talking about the Halloween Ball, Draco."

The younger man looked over at his mentor and snorted as he began to move away. "So was I," he muttered over his shoulder as he made his way towards the drinks. He observed the way Rayne and Nicholas were moving and could not help but remember his dance with Ginny.

"_What were you and Loony talking about?"_

_Ginny shot him a look. "Her name is Luna," she hissed. "And we weren't talking about anything."_

_Draco rolled his eyes. "You forget that I spend most of my time with snakes, Weasley. I know when people are lying to me," he whispered. "Well?"_

_Ginny bit her lip and looked around again. "We were talking about you," she confessed quietly, wincing when he stepped on her foot deliberately, causing her to glare at him. He only smirked._

"_Well, I tend to be the object of several people's conversations lately," he said haughtily. Ginny hit him in the arm._

"_I'm beginning to regret this whole relationship," she muttered. "You think too much about yourself."_

_Draco smirked. "I believe two of the terms you used were egotistical and conceited, though I'm pretty sure they mean the same thing."_

"_You know what I would like to do right now?" Ginny asked._

"_What?"_

"_Shove that sarcastic arse of yours right down your-"_

"_My, my, aren't we aggressive?" he cut in, noticing the ghost of a smile flit across her soft features. "You should really see someone about that."_

_Ginny, in turn, muttered something rude about ferrets._

"_You know what I would like to do right now?" Draco asked quietly, shooting a sixth year Gryffindor a nasty look._

"_What?" Ginny asked, feeling his hand on her back move slightly lower towards the small of her back._

"_Drag you into one of those bathrooms and-"_

"_Draco," Ginny warned._

"_Lock the door behind me, get rid of this lovely little dress and-"_

"_I think that's quite enough," Ginny snapped, shooting him a dirty look. "You really need to see someone about that problem of yours. All you think about is sex."_

_Draco shook his head, glancing around. "No. I think about death sometimes. My bastard of a father. Potter. Death Eaters. And you…"_

_Ginny raised an eyebrow._

"_When you think of me, do I have my clothes on?" she asked derisively. He didn't answer. He just smirked and moved his hand completely to the small of her back. Draco's grin widened when he felt her shudder. He noticed a few Slytherins watching him and decided that it was time to end the dance._

"_Slap me," he hissed under his breath._

"_What?" Ginny asked, her head snapping to him._

"_Slap me," he repeated._

_Ginny's eyes widened and she narrowed her eyes. "Why the hell would you want me to-"_

_Draco reached down and grabbed her ass aggressively and Ginny instinctively slapped him across the face. Hard. Her eyes widened at what she just did, but when she noticed that other people had stopped dancing to stare at them. She straightened herself indignantly and turned on her heel._

"_Bastard," she hissed before stalking off into the crowds. _

Draco smirked and grabbed a bottle of firewhiskey a sixth year was trying to sneak into the punch.

For Nicholas' sake, he and Rayne should not be having a conversation similar in the slightest to his and Ginny's. If they were, he'd have to fix the boy permanently.

* * *

Lisa had walked off to see if she could identify her date from the many young men who had decided to where black dress robes and white masks. Trent had watched her leave with a smile on his face because of her inappropriate comments about Nicholas and Rayne, but the moment she was out of sight, he found himself looking around for that familiar black dress and blue train.

The words Rayne had said before she had walked away were bugging him constantly. Did Hanna really show him her costume just so he could pick her out?

When he thought about it, he knew he probably would not have been able to find her in the crowds of excited masks and elegant gowns. Not that she would have melded into the background, but he just would not have guessed that it was her.

But wasn't that the point of the Masquerade Ball? To meet new people without worrying about what House they were from or what year they were in?

His eyes finally caught sight of her sitting at one of the tables closer to the entrance with a couple of other beautifully decorated young women. Courage left him briefly when their eyes met briefly and she offered a smile before turning back to her friends. Glancing around him to make sure she had not offered the sweet gesture to another, his resolve strengthened a little and he slowly made his way over to where she was sitting, stopping to talk to a couple of boys he knew on the way.

As he approached, the conversation they were having began to filter through the antics of the night.

"I think you should do it," one of her friends, Nora, was saying as she fixed her mask. "I mean, you two are meant for each other and if he wants to then you should have no problem doing so."

Hanna's other friend, Catherine, nodded. "You've put it off for so long and it's so obvious that he wants to. I mean, he practically tried to the last time you were together."

"I don't think it's such a good idea," Hanna responded. "I mean… it's one thing for me to _want_ to, but for me to actually do it… it's a very big step… Besides Trent-"

"Honey, you need to get rid of him quickly," Nora growled. "He's not good and you'll only get into more trouble."

"But-

"_Shhh_! Trent," Catherine hissed before sitting up straighter and indicating the younger boy. Hanna's cheeks noticeably reddened and she turned around to see Trent standing there with a timid smile on his face.

"Hey, Hanna," he greeted. "Nora. Catherine."

Nora and Catherine exchanged glances before smiling. "Hello, Trent," they replied uniformly.

Trent glanced over at Hanna's friends before looking down at her. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

Catherine snorted and stood up, taking Nora's hand and leading her away but not before giving Hanna a very pointed look.

"Deal with it, Hanna," she said, glancing over at Trent quickly before both girls disappeared into the sea of gowns and robes. Hanna suddenly looked extremely uncomfortable and Trent frowned.

"I didn't interrupt did I?"

She blinked rapidly and looked up at him as if he had just appeared out of no where. Standing up quickly, she smoothed out her dress and shook her head, glancing over to where her friends had gone.

"Um… no," she whispered. "No, you didn't… we were just talking about…" She bit her lip and faltered. "Nothing."

"Oh…"

They stood there in an awkward silence for a couple of minutes before Trent looked around and noticed something off. "Gordon isn't here."

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say because Hanna's cheeks went visibly red and her breathing began to quicken to a point where he thought she might start hyperventilating.

"Are you okay?" he asked, reaching out to touch her arm and to his surprise and disappointment, she pulled away, trying to smile.

"I'm fine," she snapped. She hesitated for a moment and then spoke again. "Where are your friends? Shouldn't you be with them?" The surprise on Trent's face was enough to make Hanna completely uncomfortable. She quickly looked for a way out and took it. "I've got to go." He watched her hurriedly disappear into the crowd before he sat down at the unoccupied table and went over every single thing that had transpired when he had arrived.

The only anomaly he could come up with was the conversation Hanna had been having with her friends before they realized he was there. Why did her friends want her to stop hanging out with him? Had he done something wrong?

His mind traveled to Gordon Quinn. The man had been blessed with many physical gifts, despite his lack of reasonable intelligence and that only made him wonder as to how a girl like Hanna Thomas had condemned herself to such rampant and persistent stupidity. Granted he had his moments of adequate genius, but he was no Hermione Granger.

Before his mind could go into all the different reasons as to why Hanna Thomas and Gordon Quinn should not be in the same proximity, his eyes caught sight of something interesting going on near the food tables. Three small figures were crouching behind a batch of pumpkins and Hagrid, who seemed to be enjoying the music and oblivious to the uninvited students about to dive under the food table.

A smile came to Trent's face as the three Gryffindors arrived at their destination and he decided to see what was really going on. Perhaps this ball would be interesting.

* * *

Welcoming was not a way to describe the customers in Hogs Head that particular evening. A couple of old hags occupied the booths in the back, cackling together while a few other patrons hovered over their liquid pain killers, oblivious to the world behind them. The candles that lit the bar were quickly dimming down, adding to the dreary atmosphere.

Ralph Dekker enjoyed the drunken stillness that reigned over the place. The rain outside had no affect on their stagnant positions, nor did it affect the barkeep who had been eyeing Dekker suspiciously after a skinny, hairy man had entered and given the drunk a very nasty message.

The first interruption in over an hour was the entrance of a long designer coat and the folding of an umbrella as a pair of knee high black leather boots moved over to the bar and sat down a couple of stools from Dekker. Scarlet fingers tapped the wood impatiently until the bartender approached. A couple of words were exchanged before silence was reinstated and Dekker's eyes began to wander. Through the haze of firewhiskey, his slack muscles tightened as the coat was removed, exposing milk and honey. A black skirt and white top barely hid smooth thighs and a chest that only aroused him in places he'd forgotten ever existed. His mouth immediately began to water as gin and tonic passed pink lips and slid down an ivory neck. A small yet disturbingly pure conquest he would give anything to relish.

"My boyfriend and I live in London, but we were supposed to come out here for the weekend," the black skirt was telling the bartender quietly as she set the glass down. "The wanker would rather service himself in his apartment than me up in the woods." A white stick appeared from her purse and soon a reddish glow was at the end of it. There was a deep breath and then a smoky halo appeared around the angel's long brown curls. "You know, I think I'll have that whiskey."

The bartender smiled and pulled out what was left in the bottle Dekker had been using. The woman noticed and smiled, glancing over at Dekker. "Someone's having a one-man party," she observed with an alluring smile. "Do you have room for one more or do you do things solo as well?"

His eyes raked over her appreciatively and he got up from his seat to make his way over to her. "I'm willing to make an exception," he growled and her nose wrinkled a little before she took another drag from her cigarette and blew the smoke into his face.

Her eyes moved over him with interest before she turned back to the bar. "Not so fast," she said with a smirk. "I still haven't had my whiskey."

Two hours later, Catherine Attingwood heard the doorbell from her apartment door and she slipped out of the bed, grabbing her robe from the chair in the corner and making her way out of the room, careful to shut the door behind her. The rain pounded against the roof loudly as she walked over to the door and opened it, smiling as Gregory Goyle walked in.

"How was your night?" he asked and she rolled her eyes in disgust.

"I doubt the sod can get it up any better if he was sober," she replied, walking into the living room and over to her desk. She pulled out two vials of silvery liquid and handed it to Goyle. "He squeals like a pig."

Goyle eyed the vials carefully before he looked down the hall. "He's still in there?"

She nodded. "He'll be out for a few more hours," she whispered, looking him over. "He wasn't hard to put down." She was eyeing Goyle with such an obvious lust that he grinned.

"Is there something you need?"

Catherine released a groan and jumped on him, bringing her lips down on his fiercely as she wrapped her legs securely around his waist. She quickly managed to shove his coat off of him and was working on his shirt. Goyle shook his head and pulled away, giving her an amused look as he turned them around so that her back was against the wall.

"I have to get this up to Malfoy," he told her and she shook her head.

"Stay," she whispered, kissing his lips as he removed her robes, leaving her exposed. "I need a _man._"

Without a single hesitation, he slipped his hand beneath her robe and smoothed his palm over her bare thigh. She sighed into his mouth at the possessiveness of his touch, her entire body reacting fully to the action. He moved his hand around her leg to grasp her thigh more fully, then pulled her leg up and towards him as he ground himself against her. Catherine tore her mouth away and her head fell back against the wall as she let out a soft, moan at the feel of him pressed so intimately against her. His hands moved further up her leg to a point where she felt that she would scream, but before any such action could be taken he pulled away again and smirked at her.

"Later," he whispered into her ear, kissing her on the corner of the lips, running his hand along her naked body and making her body shudder as searing hot liquid surged down her back. Her hands moved down to his pants, tugging his hips as close to her as humanly possible while her patience began to die a torturous death.

"Oh my God," she cried. "Gregory!"

He ripped away from her and walked over to the door, leaving her swearing hatefully as he picked up his cloak. "I'll be back later," he said over his shoulder and Catherine released a growl.

"Tell Malfoy I want double for this," she muttered as she watched him walk out the door. She tied up the robe Goyle had almost removed from her, seething deeply at the thought of not being able to satisfy herself. "And tell him he's a dick."

"I'll be sure to do that," he said, closing the door behind him. Catherine bit her lip and looked through the peephole to watch him go before she sighed and dragged her feet back to her bedroom, opening the door to be greeted by a rancid stench and a despicable snore. She rolled her eyes and entered, running her hands through her unruly curls as her eyes took in the unfortunate mass of skin sprawled disgracefully on her bed.

_A favor_, Goyle had told her a couple of days ago. Something worth its weight in galleons and she had accepted it for the simple fact that Goyle had asked her. To her amusement and equal dismay, Gregory Goyle had gained a unique control over her that no other man had been able to have. Rockwell, who had been equally as satisfying, had also been much too personal for her taste. Spending time in his apartment or going out to events had not suited Catherine as it did her younger sister, Rachel, which drove her to seek out Goyle's services. Though she was aware that her attraction for the man had grown into something deeper and vice versa, their contact remained purely physical, which did not bother her in the slightest. She would go to his apartment, they'd have one, two or even three very satisfying romps and she would leave shortly after with no need to declare the words pressing so passionately on her heart. Despite his large, intimidating appearance, plain features and unattractive history, their wanton shagging sessions coupled with the occasional sparkling gift of gratitude she received anonymously by owl more than made up for the former descriptions.

Of course, pretending to enjoy the infirmities of a drunken werewolf the night before full moon was not the way Catherine had hoped to spend her night.

"Bloody hell…"

* * *

"Is it still raining?"

Ginny glanced over her shoulder and smiled as Jason shifted on her couch. She nodded quietly before she returned to staring out the window.

"Tonight's the Halloween Ball for Hogwarts," she whispered. "Rayne was so nervous about her costume."

The couch groaned a little when Jason sat up on it before it sighed as he stood up and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his head on her shoulder to watch as the lightning struck faraway buildings.

"I'm sure she's having a wonderful time," he murmured into her ear, nuzzling her soft skin with his nose. Ginny's eyes closed at the action and she nodded slowly.

"I hope she is…"

"I remember my Halloween Ball… I took Sarah Prince. We had fun…" he said, reminiscing over the night. "One of the boys in my grade broke his leg jumping off of one of the statues…"

"That sounds like fun."

He smiled and kissed her neck. "It was funny because he kept on singing as they carried him out to the hospital."

Ginny's mind went back eleven years and she smiled a little. "I didn't really get to enjoy mine."

"Malfoy?" She nodded again and he snorted, pulling her closer to him. "He seems to ruin a lot of things," he muttered and she laughed.

"It's sort of built into him," she replied quietly. Jason turned her around to face him and she saw the look on his face.

"Why are we talking about Malfoy?"

She shrugged, running a hand over the front of his shirt and tilting her head to the side. "I don't know… why are we talking about him?" A grin came to his lips that made her heart melt as he held up his hand for her to take. He led her to the middle of the living room and placed his other hand securely on her hip. "We're not going to dance are we?" she asked just as he pulled out his wand and flicked it quickly. Suddenly the room was filled with a song she recognized immediately. "Our wedding song," she whispered excitedly, leaning closer to him as they swayed to the notes. He leaned in and kissed her cheek.

"A beautiful choice," he murmured into her skin and she sighed contentedly, closing her eyes as the rhythmic music began to soothe her.

"Mum's so excited that we finally made a date," she mumbled and he laughed, a sound she longed to hear more often during her day.

"Your mum and my mum have been plotting for some time," he replied with amusement, causing her to laugh as well. She pulled away a little to look him in the eyes.

"I went over to the Burrow earlier today and they were in the kitchen, planning dishes."

Jason shook his head and twirled her around, smiling as she curtsied after. He leaned down and kissed her hand formally, his heart swelling when her eyes twinkled at him. "I love you," he told her and she grinned, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I love you too," she murmured. Their lips met in a tender kiss before Ginny leaned into his ear and asked, "Wasn't Sarah Prince your cousin?"

Jason burst out laughing and picked her up from around the waist, carrying her to the couch and setting her down there so that he was on top of her.

"Sarah Prince was a friend of the family," he replied indignantly, leaving trails of kisses down her jaw. "Not my cousin."

An impish glint passed through Ginny's eyes and she kissed him quickly before she rolled them over so that she was on top. "Did you ask her or was she sort of the last resort?"

Jason propped himself up on his elbows so that their faces were a hairsbreadth from each other. "She was a very beautiful girl and I asked her," he told her matter-of-factly before capturing her lips in a sumptuous kiss that left her breathless. Their kisses began to heat up quickly and their hands started roaming around with a respectful curiosity that only increased Ginny's love for the man. "Of course," he added when they pulled away for some air. "She wasn't as beautiful as you."

"And you didn't ask her to marry you," she whispered and he snorted.

"I think every bloke in the school asked her to marry them," he said and she frowned.

"I thought you said she was a friend."

A grin came to his lips as he leaned up to kiss her again. "She was… in a very… non brother and sister kind of way."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that seventh year for me was a very trying time filled with many temptations," he answered and she fell off the couch, laughing hysterically as he leaned over to see her on the ground. "It's not funny. Her refusal to accept my hand was very hard on me."

Mock concern appeared on Ginny's face as she reached up to touch his face. "Oh, that's so sad," she giggled. "I'm sure therapy helped out with that."

Jason rolled his eyes and got up, moving over to where his coat was hanging. "I'm leaving. You obviously don't understand how much that meant to me," he muttered, feigning hurt. Ginny grinned and stood up, hurrying over to take his hand.

"I'm sorry, Jason… I do understand," she said, trying to maintain a straight face. "You proposed to Sarah Prince and she rejected you." She burst out into more laughter at the look on his face and he smiled at her.

"I'm glad you find amusement at my expense," he said to her. "I'll see you later, okay?"

Ginny nodded, kissing him goodbye as she opened the door. "Tell Sarah Prince I said hello," she said and he rolled his eyes, kissing her cheek before he walked out the door.

"Bye, Gin," he whispered and then disapparated. Ginny smiled and walked back into her living room where their wedding song was still playing. Closing her eyes, she held her hands out as if she were still with Jason and moved around the floor lightly, her heart soaring at the thought of when she would officially be able to dance with Jason to this tune.

**A/N: I know you all are wondering where the hell I've been for the past month or so, but school has started and that means hell has come to earth once again. My schedule is soooo busy, especially with this huge four month project that I have to work on constantly. I will definitely not be updating as often as I used to, I'll tell you that right now. My days are filled up with classes, research, exercising and on the off chance that I happen to see my favorite tv show (HOUSE AND BONES ARE COMING BACK!), I'll be doing that too. I'm also working on two other "original" stories so I'll be busy with that as well. I'll try my hardest to get this story updated, but please bear with me. School is torture.**

**I know you were probably expecting something else, but I am so bogged down right now. I'll try to do something more in the next couple of days.**

**Jenny:** I'm glad you like the story so much. I'm in love with Landon right now (Though he wasn't really in this chapter). As you know by now, I love to play with the mind.

**snowfire81: **Thanks! I hope you liked this chapter!

**purplegabby123:** Don't worry, there will be more D/G scenes. As for him telling her that he loves her, I don't think that will happen any time in the near future, if at all. Draco's not the type to spill his heart out. :-)

**Nori: **I love answering reviews! It's the only time I'm able to talk to my reviewers! Don't worry, I was so excited to write Pansy's death. Oh gosh, Jason… he's a character I really want people to like because he really does love Ginny in a way that Draco never could. I know a lot of my readers hate him because he's taken Draco's place and it's not that I don't love Draco, (I really love the man), I just think Jason is also a good choice. Well, I'm sorry you don't like Charlie, but I'm glad you like the story. I really hope you liked the chapter.

**padmeani8:** Ginny is with Jason because he is nothing like Draco and he is nothing like Harry. He's not a hero figure nor is he surrounded by so much darkness that it's impossible to survive around him. He's just Jason. He's… _ordinary_ for lack of a better word. Draco's the man you can't bring home to the parents. Harry is the man you can bring home to the parents, but it could end up hurting all of you. Jason's the man from every typical romance movie that has the right job and no real skeletons in his closet. (Now that I've ranted for a few sentences…) Ginny does love Jason. I don't want to say that her love for Jason is _less_ than Draco. I think it's just different. Does any of that make sense? I think I wrote too much.

**Chapter Tease: **

"_Are you okay?" she asked. "What happened?"_

_Trent pointed down the hallway, still holding onto Rayne. _

"_Go get help!" he snapped. "She's dead, go get help!"_


	18. This is When Control Begins to Fade

_I have discovered that all human evil comes from this: man's being unable to sit still in a room._ **–Blaise Pascal**

* * *

"This music is ghastly," Reilly muttered as Charlie pulled some food from above and sat it down in the middle of the three. "Rayne listens to it all the time."

Landon glanced under the table sheets to see several heels pass by, accompanied by excited giggles and unintelligible chattering. He focused his hearing and all of a sudden the conversations of several different students became so clear that he pulled the sheet back down and took a deep breath, trying to block it out as Charlie and Reilly decided how to divide the food.

"Well, you can't get all of the tarts, Reilly," Charlie said, snatching a couple for himself and Landon.

Reilly pointed to appetizers lying by Landon's knee.

"Are you going to eat those?" she asked, attracting his attention. He glanced down at the food and shook his head, handing the food over.

"No," he mumbled. Charlie noticed his lack of movement and frowned.

"Are you going to eat _any_ of that?"

Landon shook his head, inching a little closer to Reilly when a large crowd of students came over to the table and feet began poking under the table cloths. His two friends noticed how pale he was and remembered that Dumbledore had said that the day before the change was the hardest and that they needed to be has sympathetic as possible all the while trying not to make him feel awkward. Reilly nudged Charlie's foot with hers before she tossed a creampuff at Landon's head.

"What was that for?" the boy demanded and Charlie threw a piece of his food at Landon as well. Soon after, food was flying in the cramped space along with laughter as they tried not to fall out from under the table. Landon and Charlie quickly turned on Reilly and lobbed deserts at her, making her squeal as she started crawling down the tables away from them. She had almost reached the end when the table cloth was raised and her sister's friend's head appeared.

"What's this? Little first years at a Halloween Ball?" he asked with a grin and Charlie groaned.

"You're going to turn us in, aren't you?"

Trent shook his head and came under the table, making the space cramped and forcing the other three to scoot back slightly.

"I'm not going to turn you in," he said. "I just wanted to know why three first years were sneaking around a Halloween Ball instead of running around the castle."

Reilly and Charlie glanced over at Landon briefly before Charlie held up a hors d'oeuvre.

"We were hungry," he offered and Trent rolled his eyes.

"Rayne was right, you three are unbelievable," he said just as the music outside began to change to a much louder, beating tone. "You better make sure Professor Snape doesn't see you or you'll really be in trouble."

With that said, he slipped out from under the table, leaving them alone again. The three exchanged glances before Reilly started giggling, pointing at Landon's face. The boy frowned.

"What?" he demanded and she fell back on the floor, peals of laughter coming from her lips.

"You have cream on your nose," she snickered. "You both look ridiculous!"

Charlie and Landon exchanged a look before Landon grabbed one of the pies that had survived their previous juvenile activity and shoved it in her face. Both boys burst out laughing while Reilly released a shriek that was masked by the blaring music. She wiped the sauce off of her face before lunging at them, all them wrestling around while still managing to avoid being detected.

* * *

The tedious music and hyperactive students were beginning to wear on Malfoy's nerves and it was starting to become obvious after the first hour. Several professors, especially Snape and Minerva, noticed him glancing repeatedly towards the exit and fingering his wand occasionally. He would snap at any student that happened to squeal, talk or utter the slightest gasp near him and after a while, he was no longer staying in one place but pacing the perimeter of the Great Hall in a way that did not arouse the suspicions of any student, but unnerved several professors who were now paying more attention to him. A couple who were unwilling to talk to the young professor about his actions, approached Dumbledore concerning the topic and after a few more minutes of discussion, Snape was sent over to where Draco Malfoy was in the corner, glaring at a couple of young girls who were squealing about some bloke.

"Girls," Snape said, indicating for them to take their conversation somewhere else. Both girls blushed furiously from behind their masks and scurried off to the other side of the hall. Snape rolled his eyes and went to stand beside Draco.

"If your purpose was to make the faculty nervous, then you have accomplished it," he drawled and the younger man uttered a few choice words that were not worth repeating.

"Is something wrong, Draco?" Severus asked, ignoring the professor's previous statement.

"Babysitting students is not how I would like to spend the rest of my evening," came the irate response.

"Did you have something else in mind?"

Draco's silver eyes rested on his mentor and he smirked.

"I trust you, Severus," he murmured. "But I know who you report to."

"Draco-"

"Are you here to question my psychological state or because those sods over there think I might start killing students?"

"I think you might start killing some of the students."

Draco snorted and moved away from the wall.

"You overestimate me," he said, eyeing Flitwick's wild conducting with obvious distaste. "I'd start smaller."

Snape laughed and they were about to head for the refreshment stand when a dark figure lurked near the entrance caught their attention. A couple of other professors and students had noticed the person as well and a few looked uncomfortable. Draco just smirked and took a direct path to where Gregory Goyle was standing by the doors. Snape trailed behind closely, eyeing Goyle with mild interest while Draco addressed the man.

"Well?"

Goyle snorted and handed over two vials of swirling silvery substance.

"Addison was in a right mood when she found out I had to come up here instead of stay there with her," he commented and Snape raised an eyebrow.

"What could you _possibly_ offer that would make her wish you to _stay_?" he asked and Goyle smirked.

"You'd be surprised by what I can offer."

Draco rolled his eyes at the conversation and tucked the vials into his robes, motioning to Goyle to follow him as he headed off towards his office.

"Tell Dumbledore I'll be back in a few minutes. I need to check something."

Snape just nodded and reentered the Great Hall, leaving the two former Slytherins to their mischief.

"She took care of Dekker?" Draco asked quietly and Goyle's eyes noticeably darkened.

"She didn't enjoy it," he growled and a ghost of a smile came to Draco's face at the familiarity in the tone Goyle had used.

"She's that good?"

Goyle smirked and nodded, stuffing his fists into his robes as they approached the DADA classroom.

"She's brilliant."

They entered his office and after he made sure they were not being watched, he pulled out a pensieve from a hidden closet and placed it on his desk, eyeing some of the memories that were already circling in the steel basin. Taking the two vials out, he emptied one into the vessel, shifting the memory around with his wand before it finally displayed itself.

Fenrir Greyback's face appeared and Draco stiffened a little at the sight of the man as he sat down in a chair and addressed Dekker.

"_I want you to watch Hogsmeade for a while," the werewolf growled._

"_Why?" Dekker asked ignorantly and Greyback sat up straighter. _

"_I have some… items arriving here in a couple of days and Emory and Halen to pick them up. I don't need Aurors down there when my stuff arrives."_

_Dekker released a growl._

"_You didn't ask me up here to be a sodding guard dog," he muttered. "What's really going on?"_

_Greyback was silent for a while and Draco could immediately identify the familiar bloodlust in the man's eyes. Time moved by quickly before the werewolf stood up and moved over to an antique liquor trolley, pouring amber liquid into a crystal glass before he spoke._

"_Dekker, there are certain things about this… _issue_ that you nor anyone else will be privy to," he said. "I suggest you do as you're told or you leave."_

"_I want assurance," Dekker growled._

"_Assurance for what?"_

"_Malfoy."_

_Greyback turned around to face Dekker, eyes darkening considerably at the mention of the name. Setting down the crystal, he approached the drunk and eyed him suspiciously. _

"_What about Malfoy?" _

_Dekker shook his head._

"_I've heard things over the past couple of years, mate," he muttered. "Stuff about people turning up dead in their beds… strangled... dismembered… gored…" He shook his head. "I need assurance that when the shit hits the fan, my name better not pop up. I've got enough problems without having to worry about getting my bits blown off by the wanker."_

_A chilling laugh filled the dark room and Draco felt Goyle grow stiff beside him at the sound. This action attracted the professor's interest, but instead of calling attention to it, he focused on the memory._

"_Dekker," Greyback was saying as he sat back down in his chair, "if Malfoy decides that you're actually worth his God damned time, then the last thing you want is assurance. You'll need a priest."_

"_This isn't a bloody game, Greyback," Dekker snarled. "I'm not going to sit around like a git and wait for that clod to come and snuff me out."_

"_I think you should do what you're told or you won't have to wait for Malfoy to come snuff you out."_

_Dekker seemed ready to counter the statement, but after a disturbing look from Greyback, he backed towards the door and wrapped his fingers around the knob._

"_What was it you wanted me to do again?" he mumbled in defeat and a smirk appeared on Greyback's face._

"_I want you to watch Hogsmeade like a good dog," he replied. "And keep your head down."_

When the memory faded, Draco turned to Goyle with a smirk on his face.

"Scared?"

Goyle caught the look and snorted.

"Of Greyback?" He shook his head. "I'm not scared of him. I'm just like Dekker. I'm hoping I don't run into him anytime soon."

Draco nodded silently and pulled out the other vial. His trust in Goyle had grown over the years, especially after what had happened with Crabbe eleven years ago. Never once in the years that had past had Draco doubted any of the four who had been faithful to him. However, the idea that he was the only one they respected had never crossed his mind once. Greyback was a force to be reckoned with, there was no doubt about that. For the sake of those who claimed they were loyal to Draco, they better pray that respect was all they gave to the werewolf.

"Let's see what memory number two has to offer."

* * *

Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore were talking quietly off to the side about Draco's sudden disappearance when Remus Lupin appeared in the Great Hall and made his way instantly to the Headmaster's side. They could tell something was troubling him greatly but tried not to look too anxious. Tonight was supposed to be a happy occasion. Worrying students would not help the matter.

"Remus, is something wrong?" McGonagall asked as soon as the man reached them.

"We have a small problem, Albus," he replied quickly. "Madame Pomfrey went to check on Landon Greyback and he's missing."

"Missing?" McGonagall gasped while Dumbledore just smiled and watched the students. "How could he be missing? I thought he was being watched carefully."

Remus gave her a look.

"Well, apparently, someone managed to sneak past the guard using one of those trick candies from Fred and George's store," he said and Dumbledore finally looked away from the activities before them.

"Ms. Weasley and Mr. Wilson, I assume," he whispered, eyes twinkling through the half mooned spectacles. "They probably just decided to give him something else to think about before his change. You know how difficult it must be for the young man."

Remus' lips drew into a pale thin line and he took a quick breath before he scanned the Hall.

"Landon may be more stable around his friends, but it is not a good idea for him to be running around Hogwarts at this time of night with no supervision."

Dumbledore shook his head and pointed across the hall towards the food.

"Mr. Greyback has been under those tables with his two friends for most of the night," he told the two with a smile. "They've been nicking food."

McGonagall could not stop the smile on her face as she turned to Remus.

"I believe Albus has this situation under control, Remus," she whispered. "Let Mr. Greyback have his fun. However, if it makes you feel better, we shall tell Professor Snape about his so that he may keep a better eye on the young boy."

Remus nodded and after bidding them goodnight, left the Great Hall just as Severus Snape came in. The professor noticed the two and strode over, his black robes billowing sinisterly behind him.

"Albus. Minerva," he drawled. "Draco had a personal matter to deal with so he will be gone for a while."

Dumbledore nodded. He had noticed Gregory Goyle as well and knew that this had something to do with Greyback, but he decided against questioning Snape for information, at least not around Minerva. Instead, he motioned towards the food and smiled.

"Severus, we have three small guests," he commented and Snape frowned. McGonagall sighed and began to move away from the two men.

"Mr. Greyback and his two friends have decided to join the Masquerade."

* * *

Once again, Trent found himself searching for Hanna with their previous conversation, or lack thereof, circling in his mind. He had caught her dancing on the floor with a couple of black masks, conversing with them animatedly, but after the music ended, she would leave them wanting another go and disappear into the crowds. Lisa had disappeared from the Hall a while ago with whom he assumed to be Dean so any hope of talking to her was out of the question. He had also danced with a few girls, but his curiosity in Hanna's strange behavior had become overwhelming and he was unable ignore it.

Fortunately, he did not have to look long for her. He had just ventured away from the refreshment table, leaving the three first years to their own antics, when he found her standing by a column near the door, clutching a glass of pumpkin juice and staring blankly out into the crowd of students. She did not notice his approach until he was standing right beside her and cleared his throat. She jumped a little and then looked over at him, eyes wide and startled.

"Trent," she gasped, blinking several times before she looked around. "What are you doing here?"

Trent frowned and shrugged.

"I just thought I'd come over and say hello. Are you okay?" he asked and she bit her lip.

"Yeah… I'm fine… I was just… thinking," she muttered, looking down at her drink in embarrassment. "I saw you dancing. You looked like you were having fun."

"I was… you were dancing as well…"

She nodded, but she never looked him in the eyes. Her fingers began clinking against her glass and she continued to chew nervously on her lip, leading him to believe that something was wrong.

"Are you okay?" he asked and she shrugged, taking a sip from her pumpkin juice.

"I said I was _fine_, Trent," she stressed. "I'm just taking a breather."

"You looked upset."

"I'm upset right now."

"Where's Gordon?"

Something seemed to snap within her and she finally looked up into his eyes, her own brown ones searching for some sort of answer.

"Why do you keep bringing up my boyfriend, Trent?" she demanded suddenly and he took a step back.

"What?"

She turned to face him completely and tilted her head to the side, eyes narrowed into suspicious slits.

"Why is it that for the past couple of weeks, all you've done is mention Gordon?" she asked accusingly. "Why are you so concerned about him?"

For a moment, Trent hesitated at the irritation in her eyes. But then he shrugged and looked down at his hands.

"I don't know. I just noticed that you haven't been around him at all."

"So you've been watching me all night?" she demanded.

"I wasn't watching you all night," he countered quickly, becoming irritated himself. "It's just… every time I happened to see you, you weren't with Gordon."

"Why are you interested if I'm with my boyfriend?" she hissed and he rolled his eyes.

"I don't know," he snapped angrily. "I just don't see why someone would come to a ball and not be with his girlfriend. If I were your boyfriend I would do my best to find you and not spend my time sloshing around like clod, fondling every dress that doesn't even have the _slightest_ resemblance to my girlfriend. Of course, then again, if I were in your position, I probably wouldn't be thick enough to believe Quinn is as loyal a git as he seems to be."

He expected the pained look on her face. What he did not expect was the pumpkin juice that followed that look. He removed his mask and wiped his face with his sleeve while she glared at him.

"Oh, that's mature," he muttered, spitting out the drink that had entered his mouth. "I tell you the truth and you throw juice at me like a two year old."

"You don't know what you're talking about," she hissed, pushing her way past him towards the doors.

"Oh come on, Hanna. Everyone knows he cheats on you and everyone knows that all he wants is to get you in a bed and-"

"STOP IT!" she screamed rounding on him and slapping him in the face. Collective gasps could be heard all around the Great Hall and several professors began moving towards the doors in an attempt to find out what was wrong. Hanna's entire face, despite her dark complexion, was completely red and her eyes were wide as if she were shocked by what she had just done. Her eyes watered a little and she placed her hand to her mouth to keep herself from saying anything else. She just shook her head and left the Hall quickly, followed swiftly by her two friends.

"Mr. Wallace, may I ask what is going on?" McGonagall demanded curtly when she finally reached the young man. Other professors were trying to get students to ignore the spectacle.

"I… I must have insulted her dress or something," he mumbled, still staring at the place where Hanna had been standing a few seconds ago.

"Well, I suggest you go and clean up. Pumpkin juice can stain clothing," she advised, noticing Rayne Malfoy coming over. "Perhaps Ms. Malfoy can accompany you."

* * *

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Nicholas asked as he and Rayne swayed slowly with a few other couples on the dance floor. Rayne shifted a little in his arms as she kept her head rested on his shoulder.

"Now that your ex isn't trying to send me to hell in flames," she muttered into his dress robes, moving closer to him. Nicholas laughed and kissed her temple softly.

"She did look a bit miffed for a while," he replied quietly and she raised her head up to look at him.

"I've seen miffed, Nick," she said with a smile. "She looked ready to use the Killing curse."

Nicholas laughed and looked around the Hall quickly.

"Speaking of Killing curse, where's Professor Chop-it-off?"

"Professor Chop-it-off?"

"That's what my friends call him."

"Draco?"

"No, Hagrid. You wouldn't _believe_ the story behind that name-"

Rayne hit his arm playfully and smiled.

"You're a git," she whispered before looking around as well. "I don't know where he is-"

"STOP IT!"

Everyone turned in time to see a shocked Trent Wallace and an equally shocked Hanna Thomas staring at each other before the latter made a hasty retreat out the large oak doors followed closely by her two friends.

"Oh no, Trent," Rayne whispered, biting her lip and looked up at Nicholas. He caught the look on her face and nodded, easing his arms from around her waist reluctantly.

"Fine, go," he muttered. "It's not like tonight was leading anywhere more _intimate_ and I have a couple of Slytherins to talk to."

Rayne grinned and kissed him on the lips quickly.

"Just because we weren't going to have sex, didn't mean we weren't going to get intimate," she whispered into his ear before she hurried off the dance floor towards Trent. She slowed her stride when McGonagall appeared by her friend and waited patiently until the professor had left before she walked over to him and touched his burning cheek carefully.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you _didn't_ tell her you liked her," she whispered as they headed out of the Great Hall.

"I told her that Quinn was a randy prick and that he wanted nothing more than to get in her knickers."

"You did not!" Rayne gasped, leading the way down the hall towards the nearest restroom. When his expression didn't change and both his cheeks began to take on the rosy hue, her eyes widened and she stopped them right before they reached the door. "Trent! Why would you say something like that to her?"

"Because she kept asking me why I was asking about her boyfriend," he muttered, moving around her and going into the bathroom, heading straight for the sinks to admire the enflamed palm print Hanna had left on his face as well as the pumpkin juice that covered his head and most of his front. "Great. This was my dad's… he's going to go off his rocker when he sees this."

Rayne was about to respond when a graceless scream erupted from one of the stalls and seconds later a half-dressed couple tumbled out onto the floor, giggling and gasping for breath.

"Oh bloody hell!" Rayne yelped, jumping out of the way to avoid joining the amorous duo. The two on the floor looked up from where they were and both Rayne and Trent gasped.

"Quinn," Trent growled and the young man just grinned stupidly while the girl continued to giggle from her place underneath him.

"Oh, hello," Gordon Quinn greeted, shifting a little and causing the girl to groan and Rayne to pale. Gordon pointed at Trent. "You're Hanna's friend… Rupert… Trevor… something like that…" His eyes shifted to Rayne with gratitude and his grin widened. "Come to get your rocks off with her?" he asked, looking down at the girl beneath him. Rayne looked like she was going to be sick. "Well, the missus and I were just finishing, so you can use this stall. Best one in Hogwarts." He looked up and winked at Trent. "More leg room."

"You son of a bitch!" Trent snarled, but before he could get to Quinn, Rayne jumped in front of him and shoved him back.

"Trent don't, he's not worth months of detention!" she yelled while Quinn and the girl scrambled off of the floor in shock, pulling the rest of their clothes on in the process.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Quinn demanded angrily, shoving the girl towards the door as he snatched his mask up from the floor. "If you see Hanna, tell her I'm looking for her."

Trevor gave Quinn a finger and the older boy pulled out his wand.

"You have something to say, wanker?"

"I have several things to say to you, but I highly doubt you'll understand most of them, you randy troll," Trevor hissed while trying to get past Rayne, who had also pulled out her wand from somewhere in her dress. She pointed it straight at Quinn's heart and shook her head at him.

"Draco Malfoy used to raise me," she snapped. "I suggest you put down that wand before I make sure it's permanently lodged in your skull."

Despite his large appearance, Quinn was a coward by heart and after thinking over her statement thoroughly, he backed down and let out a few profanities before he and the girl disappeared out the bathroom. Rayne bit her lip and turned around to face Trent, who still looked murderous.

"Are you okay?" she asked and he shook his head, turning back to the mirror.

"No, I'm not okay," he snapped. "That shithead is running around shagging other girls and Hanna gets pissed at me!"

Rayne hesitated and shrugged.

"Trent, you can't help her if she doesn't want to accept the truth. You also can't beat up Quinn. So he's a prick. You shouldn't get detention or get expelled because of it," she whispered, waving her wand over his face and chest and removing the pumpkin juice from his dress robes.

"Yeah, whatever," he muttered angrily and she sighed. She moved around and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. When he returned the hug, she smiled and kissed his cheek.

"You know, if Lisa had been here, she would make us go up to the common room and bring out the book."

Trent rolled his eyes and pulled away from her.

"Ugh, the book," he mumbled. "I hate that book."

Rayne smiled and took his hand.

"Come on," she said. "Let's go and have a dance. You owe me one."

They were about to leave the restroom when something caught Rayne's attention. At first she thought she was just imagining it, but after a moment, the groaning got louder and Trent finally noticed it. They exchanged looks and Rayne actually smiled.

"Either he heard Quinn's… _engagement_ or he's having some intestinal troubles," she said right as the groaning increased. Trent rolled his eyes and moved around to the other set of stalls and looked under the doors to see which one was occupied. He frowned when he saw what looked to be blood and knocked on the door while pulling out his wand.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked. No one answered. Just more groaning. Trent and Rayne exchanged another glance before he waved his wand over the latch and whispered, "_Alohamora_."

The latch slid open and Rayne pulled the door opened.

"Oh my God!" Rayne gasped and both students fell back, horrified by what was behind the stall door.

A boy, sixteen or seventeen, was sitting on the toilet and clutching a first year girl in his arms. He was rocking back and forth, eyes closed and face contorted as blood poured from a grotesque wound on the girl's neck. His entire face was covered in blood and he just kept groaning.

"Oh my God," Trent gaped, wincing a little when Rayne's fingers began digging into his arm. A frightened gasp escaped her lips when the boy's eyes opened, revealing dilated pupils and a bloodlust that shot fear into the two.

"Trent," Rayne whimpered, tugging on his arm. "Trent we need to go… Trent… please, let's go…"

A chilling snarl ripped from the bloodied man's lips and he dumped the small girl on the floor, rising up in preparation to attack.

"TRENT!"

Before either Gryffindor could utter a single defensive curse, the boy launched himself at them and they just managed to get out of the way. Rayne released another scream before she and Trent scrambled across the tiled floor and out the door, animalistic yowls following after them. Trent waved his wand at the door, muttering a quick charm before he fell to the ground with Rayne, backing up into the opposite wall as the boy trapped inside began throwing his body against the door, releasing terrifying screams.

"Oh my God," Rayne cried, staring at the door in horror. "What was that?!"

Trent shook his head and stood up, grabbing Rayne up with him, holding her close as he tried to breathe.

"I don't know… that girl…"

"Was dead," Rayne finished, tears pouring down her cheeks while she buried her face in his chest. "Oh my God!"

"What's going on?"

Trent looked down the corridor to see Hanna walking over with her two friends. When they heard the screams coming from the restroom, they all frowned.

"What the hell was that?" Nora demanded. "Who's in there?"

Hanna noticed Rayne's distraught state and came over to where they were standing, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "What happened?"

Trent pointed down the hallway, still holding onto Rayne.

"Go get help!" he snapped. "She's dead, go get help!"

"Dead!" Catherine gasped. "Who's dead?!"

"Go get help!"

Hanna backed away from Trent and looked around before she grabbed Nora's arm and pointed towards the Great Hall.

"Go find Professor Dumbledore," she said quickly. "Hurry!"

"What the hell is going on here?"

They all turned to see Draco Malfoy and a very intimidating man walking towards them. Rayne pulled away from Trent and pointed to the bathroom door.

"There's a girl… she's dead!"

Right then the door splintered and a moment later, a blur of bloodlust tore it's way out of the bathroom and launched itself at Rayne, snarling as it struck her in the side and sent both of them crashing into the wall. Screams erupted as Hanna and her friends scrambled out of the way and Goyle yanked Trent back before he could go help his friend.

"RAYNE!" he yelled, fighting to be free from the large man. "RAYNE!"

A flash of blue light filled the hallway briefly and then a bloodcurling cry of pain shot through the screams. The boy fell away from Rayne's body, howling in excruciating pain from the bloody gash on his side. He saw Draco approaching him and made a bid to get away. There was another flash of light and more screams filled the hallway but before Draco could make any more moves, Goyle stepped in.

"Don't, Malfoy!" he yelled, seeing the curse in the younger man's eyes. "We'll take care of this a different way."

Draco looked ready to disagree but instead of making any further movements, he tucked his wand into his robes and moved over to where Trent and the other girls were crowding around Rayne. The boy laughed at this action from his place on the ground.

"You've spent too much time away from the world, Malfoy," he snarled. "You've forgotten yourself… Greyback said you've gone soft."

Draco turned around and began circling the boy, eyes icy and unforgiving. Goyle recognized the look and turned to the students.

"Get her up to the Hospital Wing now," he snapped and they all quickly followed his order.

"What else did Greyback tell you?" Draco demanded in a calm voice.

The boy just shrugged and laughed, spitting up blood as he did so. Despite his relaxed demeanor, it was obvious that Draco's presence was beginning to agitate the boy a little and fear was starting to show in his bloodshot eyes.

"He said that while you were busy with me… he'd be busy with something else… someone else…"

"Who?"

Looking up at Draco, the boy grinned and pointed to his nose before he began singing.

"Early one morning the sun was shinning, while I was laying in bed. Wondering if she had changed at all… If her hair was still red," he finished. "Oh God… she was _beautiful_… but Greyback said that the redhead… she would taste… _brilliant_…"

There was a flash of green light and for a while the hallway was completely silent. The paintings on the wall had all abandoned their frames and even the suits of armor could be heard clinking a little as a deathly cold began to seep through the walls. Something evil had returned to Hogwarts and recaptured its hold on Draco Malfoy. Goyle could feel it as he carefully walked past the professor to see if he could retrieve anything from the boy.

"His memory's been wiped, Malfoy," he muttered quietly, tucking his wand back into his pocket. "There's nothing here."

"Dumbledore will be here soon."

Goyle looked up at Draco.

"What do you want to do?"

"You and Valance go check on Weasley."

"Sure," Goyle said, pointing to the body. "What about that?"

Draco ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath. A rush of adrenaline was pumping through his blood and a smile was actually coming to his face. His eyes had a certain glint in them that Goyle had not seen in a long time and it was a bit disturbing.

"I'll deal with it," he snapped. "Go."

Goyle disappeared down the hall, leaving Draco to the body in the hallway. After staring at the mangled heap of blood and skin for what seemed like forever, Draco entered the restroom, going to the stall where the little girl was lying, her blood now spreading across the floor slowly. He stepped through it and his robes dragged across the red fluid as he moved to crouch down beside the limp body, his eyes moving over the pale soft skin with little interest.

Greyback was growing impatient. That much was obvious. To use inexperienced students to infiltrate Hogwarts without any sense of self-control was a bit irresponsible and childish. Bating Draco had only uncovered what Greyback already knew: that Draco was still willing to kill, despite Dumbledore's presence. There were plenty of ways to clear the history off of his wand so that the Ministry would not be able to link him to the boy's death. With the only witness being Goyle and the knowledge that the painting occupants had all fled the scene before the boy had been killed only added to Draco's favor.

Draco ran his hand over the little girl's cheek gently and smiled.

Besides… who cares about a dead Slytherin werewolf who killed a first year Ravenclaw girl?

**A/N: Hey guys! I know I said I'd update quickly but I… um… I got sick with the swine flu… yes, the swine flu… I'm fine now, obviously, but I was sort of down and out for a while… **

**padmeani8:** Draco remembering things about Ginny is always fun. I'm glad you liked it.

**purplegabby123: **Yes, I know, I know, I've been caught up in the whole Hogwarts world again. I'm sorry about that. I'm going to try to get back on track with Draco and Ginny, though we might not see them together for another couple of chapters. I'll try to hurry it along, but I don't want to make things unrealistic. I'll try!!!

**Nori:** School is trying to kill me, both literally (swine flu) and figuratively. See, I need to update a bit more often so people don't forget things. That's bad. As for one of my original projects, they're sort of 'never to be finished' sort of things. Venting. Just a whole bunch of venting. (I vent in these stories too, but you'll know when I'm venting because the chapter will be _really_ long. (Look out for that).

**FreezingFire81:** Glad you liked it. Hope you like the next couple of chapters as well.

**On to the next chapter!**


	19. All May Go to Hell

_Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names._ **–John F. Kennedy**

* * *

The banging on her door was enough to indicate that the storm had entered her apartment, but when Ginny opened her eyes, there was no rain or lightening. Just a constant knocking. Perhaps Jason had forgotten something at her flat and was coming back to get it. After clearing her head a little, Ginny managed to conclude that Jason would not be so inconsiderate as to bang on her door in the most ungodly times of the night. That was something Draco would do.

Grabbing a night robe of the corner of her armchair, Ginny got up and walked out of her bedroom, grumbling to herself about her blonde ex-husband. She approached the door and looked through the peephole, frowning at what she saw.

"Oh wonderful," she muttered and pulled out her wand, opening the door and leaning against the doorway. "What are you two butterflies doing here?"

Goyle and Valance glanced at each other before pointing to the door.

"Can we come in?"

Ginny's eyes narrowed suspiciously and she shook her head.

"If Draco wants to find out what I'm doing, tell him he can sod off," she muttered, closing the door. Valance stuck his boot in the doorway, stopping her and she released a frustrated sigh. "Oh come on! I thought when those divorce papers were signed, I didn't have to see you pricks again."

Goyle grinned as he and Valance pushed their way passed her into the living room.

"Oh, we missed you too, Weasley," he replied, looking around. Ginny watched them quickly move around her apartment before she spoke.

"What is this about? Is he feeling nostalgic?" she demanded and Valance laughed.

"I'm sure you would love that."

Ginny sat down on her couch and set down her wand on the coffee table, eyeing the two men carefully. The sight of them was unnerving. It was like seeing a snake moving around without its head on. Even after she had found out that Luna was back in town, she had never seen Blaise or the other three that Draco had under his thumb. They had done a lot for her even after the Christmas incident, but that did not mean she was interested in seeing them now.

"The only thing I would love right now is for the two of you to get out of my apartment," she snapped. "Why are you _here_?"

Valance glanced out the window, his eyes falling on the beautiful blonde glaring up at him from the rainy street.

"Why do you think we're here, Weasley?" he hissed and she paled a little.

"Greyback?" she asked and Goyle nodded. "What about the girls? Are they okay?"

"Rayne was attacked by an unchanged werewolf," Goyle said but before she could reach for her wand, Valance snatched her hand and squeezed tightly, causing her to cry out in pain and yank away from him. Continuing as if nothing had happened, Goyle explained, "She wasn't bitten. Just a banged up, Weasley, so keep your knickers on."

Eyes blazing, Ginny hit Valance with her foot as she moved to the other side of her couch, eyeing her wand anxiously.

"My _knickers_ are none of your concern, Goyle," she snapped. "Did Greyback attack Rayne?"

"No. It was a student," Valance answered.

"Well, then, I want to go and see her," Ginny hissed, but before she get to her feet Valance shoved her back down. "Hey! Let go of me, you sods!" she yelled, kicking the man away from her. "I want to see Rayne!"

"Not until morning."

"Why the bloody hell not?"

"Because we've got enough trouble at that school without every single Weasley Greyback is after congregating in one central location."

"Reilly doesn't know?"

"No."

"What happened to the boy who attacked Rayne?"

Both men gave her a very obvious look and her face went sheet white. Her eyes closed and day the Dementors attacked came flooding back to her.

"_You made a big mistake denying the Dark Mark, Draco," he said, spitting out blood. "Your father's not happy with you."_

_Draco stopped right in front of the large boy and for a moment Ginny couldn't believe that the boy had once been afraid of the Slytherin Prince. Now, he was standing up to him. _

"_You're not in the position to be making threats, Crabbe," Draco replied in a dangerously calm voice. _

_Crabbe's eyes glanced around and stopped on Ginny, who paled under the appraising look the boy gave her. _

"_Tell me, Draco. Are blood traitors just as fun to screw around with as that little girl is?"_

_The innuendo that was dripping from Crabbe's voice was the end of him. Draco whipped out his wand and whirled around; eyes blazing with a fury Ginny had never seen and hoped to never see again. _

"_AVADA KERDAVA!"_

"Get out," she snapped suddenly, standing up and pointing to the door.

"What?"

"Get out," she hissed, opening the front door and motioning for them to leave. "I want you two to get out of my flat right now."

Valance laughed.

"Weasley, there are at least three werewolves out there, waiting for us to leave. Do you really want those things chewing on your fingers?"

"Why do you care about what they do to me?"

Valance snorted.

"Weasley, I could care less about what happens to you," he growled. "Unfortunately, if you die, I have to deal with two men who no longer have nothing left to use against each other."

"Greyback will get over it."

"Malfoy won't."

"Oh, go to hell," she snapped, looking over at Valance hatefully. "Whatever Draco did at Hogwarts is none of my concern."

Goyle looked out the window and Emory was still there, but she was joined by a larger, sinister figure who kept his head down away from the rain.

"Malfoy may not be your concern, but Greyback is so why don't you shut it."

Ginny released an irritated sigh and got off the couch, moving over to the kitchen. She poked around for a moment and pulled out one butterbeer and two firewhiskey bottles. She then went back into the living room and set down the liquor, cradling her own drink close to her. Goyle and Valance eyed her before opening their drinks and taking quick swigs.

"Change of heart, Weasley?" Valance muttered and she rolled her eyes.

"I lived with Draco long enough to know when to stop asking questions," she replied, leaning back and pulling her legs under her. She bit her lip and sighed. "So… we just wait until Greyback leaves?"

Valance snorted.

"He was never coming."

Ginny frowned.

"Then why-"

"Whoever is out there is to make Malfoy nervous. Not to hurt you."

"Then why are you two here?"

Goyle grinned and took another swig from the firewhiskey bottle.

"Because you can never be too careful, Weasley."

* * *

"You want to tell me what happened to Mr. William Echard?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I don't know what happened to the little prick."

"You want to tell me what happened to Ms. Julliana Echard?"

Draco snorted. "I'm going to assume that family bonding is a little bit of a far reach."

The Auror who was questioning Draco Malfoy, Vincent Richardson, had been briefed about Draco's inability to answer the questions and his ability to get a rise out of his interrogators. Richardson had entered the room in hopes of getting more out the man than sinister innuendo and vague remarks, however the blonde unassuming professor was beginning to try his patience and control.

"She was only eleven years old, Malfoy," he growled.

"Then it's a good thing that the bloke who killed her is dead."

"Because you killed him," Richardson hissed. "You found him attacking Rayne Trevorton, you flew into a rage and then you killed him.

An unnerving chill shot down Richardson's spine at the smirk that grew on Draco's marble face. It was an unnatural thing to behold and suddenly Richardson wished he never had the pleasure of meeting this man. Draco placed his feet up on the table and leaned back in his chair.

"That's a wonderful story. But you can't prove any of it," he said, examining his fingernails with disinterest. "How's your wife?"

Richardson stiffened a little but he refused to let Draco get completely under his skin.

"How's Ginerva Weasley?"

"Oh, the little Weasley? I'd rather talk about your wife than my ex-wife," Draco drawled, looking over at Richardson. "I hear she gets around. Quite the little vixen. If I was still living in London, I'd have a go at her, but unfortunately, the Hogwarts menu is a little… thin…"

"Leave my wife out of this, Malfoy."

Draco instantly knew he was in and he leaned forward in his seat, grinning.

"Between you and me, I heard that your partner, Mr. Collin Finch, _loves_ the curves on your wife," he whispered and Richardson punched him quickly, knocking him out of his chair. Laughter filled the room as Richardson rose from his chair, glaring hatefully at the blonde.

"Screw you, Malfoy!"

Draco stood just when a couple of other Aurors along with Moody entered the interrogation room. He pointed at the old man and grinned.

"You'll be hearing from someone, Moody," he said, heading for the door. He paused right beside Moody, leaning in so only he could hear. "I think I will press charges against the Department for brutality. Really, Alastor. You should tighten the leashes on your men."

When he got into the hallway, Draco was genuinely surprised to see Ronald Weasley standing there, thumbing through a file.

"No, I don't like Richardson and yes, I think you're an arse," Ron muttered, turning and walking down that corridor. Draco fell into step with the redhead and uncharacteristically waited until Ron was finished going through the file before speaking.

"Where do you get those pricks?"

"Excuse me?"

"Every bloody time Moody decides to bring me down here for interrogation, you people send in a git with a personal issue. It's like you love to see people get humiliated in front of their bosses."

"Everyone has a button, Malfoy," Ron replied carefully as they entered the elevator. "You just seem to have a disturbingly honed skill for knowing how to press them."

Draco snorted at the comment and looked around the elevator quickly. The only occupants, three other Aurors, glanced over at them and frowned, silently questioning how the two purebloods could even stand the sight of each other let alone be in the same closed space together without trying to at least duke it out. Draco noticed one woman staring a bit too long and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Notice something you like?"

The lady rolled her eyes and returned to staring ahead while Ron just snorted and pressed one of the buttons.

"You have buttons too, Malfoy," Ron murmured and Draco turned to face him.

"I also know how to manipulate the system, Weasley," he responded quietly before facing forward. "I do not sleep with my sins."

"You used to."

A smirk appeared on Draco's face as the doors opened and the two men walked off the elevator, heading towards the fountains.

"Oh, that's rich," he muttered. "A bit below the belt, but very rich."

"I try."

They stopped by the fountains and Draco's eyes moved up to the floor the Auror Department was located. Ron followed his train of sight and took a deep breath.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Malfoy," he whispered, looking over at Draco with severe eyes. "We all hope you know what you're doing."

Draco looked around the Atrium, eyes falling on distrusting figures. Ten Aurors lined the walls of the area along with two standing in front of the only glowing fireplace, waiting patiently for him. The hateful look in their eyes was familiar to him and he could see several of them struggling to keep from cursing him on the spot.

"I'll take care of him, Weasley," he growled, turning and heading for the fireplace. "Have no doubt in your mind. I'll take care of him."

"What about Ginny?" Ron asked just as the blonde reached the mantle. Draco turned and motioned around him.

"Weasley… I barely talk about things in private," he said. "Why would I say a word about your sister in front of them?"

Two seconds later he disappeared, leaving Ron and his file to the silence of the Atrium and the accusing eyes of his colleagues. Not that he cared. If Ron were to be perfectly and completely honest with himself, he would trust his life to Draco Malfoy than the men that moved away from him towards the elevators.

But that was only if he were to be _completely_ honest with himself.

At the moment, he'd let himself wallow in denial.

It was better that way.

* * *

Two hours and a couple of mandatory Head Girl and Boy speeches later found the Halloween Masquerade Ball coming to a slow and satisfying end for those who were completely oblivious to what had taken place in the bathroom. Music was still being played by a sleeping Flitwick, whose wand continued to conduct long after his consciousness had left him. Four or five couples were still swaying on the dance floor, oblivious to the other students who were beginning to leave for their dormitories. The Great Hall floor was littered with forgotten masks, the removers either elated or appalled by who had been hiding behind the disguise. A couple of professors still remained to make sure no one wandered down that particular hall, but most students were just interested in finding a quiet place for them and their partner or going back to their dormitory.

Reilly, Landon and Charlie, who had managed to remain undetected for the entire Ball, were now moving through dark corridors of Hogwarts, munching on tarts and talking excitedly about the Ball. Reilly would run up ahead and twirl around, talking about the beautiful gowns and masks she had seen. Charlie and Landon just exchanged glances and snickered as they followed after her.

"Where do you want to go next?" Reilly asked and Charlie shrugged, glancing over at Landon. Despite his happy mood, the boy was unusually pale. However, before he could point this out, Reilly gave a little yelp and ducked behind both boys, eyeing the Bloody Baron fearfully as he slowly made his way out of the floor. He ignored them completely and disappeared through the opposite wall, followed closely by Nearly Headless Nick.

"What are you three doing out here after curfew?" the ghost asked sternly as he hovered over them. Reilly, regaining her nerve, moved out from behind her friends and pointed down where they had come from.

"We just came back from the Halloween Ball," she said. "Ow! What was that for?"

Landon pinched her in the arm again for good measure.

"Why'd you tell him where we were?" he hissed and she pushed his hand away, moving to stand on the other side of Charlie.

"Nick won't tell anyone," she responded, glaring at him. Nick looked around the hall and frowned.

"It's not safe for three young first years to be breaking the rules," he said. "I suggest the three of you hurry up to your dormitory now before you're caught."

Charlie smiled and nodded, shoving Landon ahead of him and giving Reilly a very pointed look.

"Thank you, Nick. We're going right now," he said. "'Night!"

Reilly had to run to catch up with her friends and hit Landon in the arm when she did.

"Ow!"

She moved out of arm's distance and shot him a glare. "That's for pinching me," she snapped. "I trust Nick."

"Well, I don't."

Charlie frowned. "Nick isn't that bad. He's one of the better ghosts," he pointed out and Landon shook his head, his mind clouding over with the voice from within. When he did not respond, the two Gryffindors noticed that he was sweating and his lips were moving quickly but now sound was coming out. Charlie placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and stopped him from moving. "Are you okay? Do you need to go up to the Hospital Wing?" he asked with concern. Reilly leaned forward and bit her lip.

"Are you hearing that voice again? Does it not like ghosts? What is it saying to you? Should we go get Dumbledore? Or Mr. Lupin? Are you _sure_ your okay, Landon, because you don't look too good and-"

"Reilly, stop, you're not helping," Charlie snapped suddenly, noticing that Landon's fingers were curling and his eyes were darkening a little. Reilly looked upset at this point but instead of retorting, she nodded and thought of something different to ask.

"Should we take him back to the Hospital Wing then?"

Charlie nodded and was about to lead the way when something outside caught his attention.

"What is that?" he asked and the other two came to stand next to him by the window, leaning against the glass to get a better look through the rain.

"What? I don't see it," Reilly complained and Landon pointed to the lake.

"There. I see it."

"Wow… it's amazing!" Charlie exclaimed.

Reilly frowned and shook her head.

"I still don't see anything. What are you two looking at?" she demanded but she did not get an answer. Instead, Charlie and Landon took off down the hall towards the stairs. "Where do you two dunderheads think your going?"

"To the lake," Landon replied as if the answer were obvious. Reilly's grey eyes widened and she shook her head.

"Oh no. We're already in enough trouble without you two going outside and getting electrocuted," she snapped, pointing to where they were supposed to be heading. "We need to go back to the Hospital Wing."

Charlie rolled his eyes and pointed to the windows.

"There's something in the lake, Reilly. _We_ want to go get it before the storm blows it away. It could be really valuable."

"It's _raining_."

"So?"

"The last time we went out when it was raining, Landon got hurt. We're not going out again!" she yelled but the two boys didn't seem to want to listen to her.

"It's not like the same thing can happen twice, Reilly," Charlie responded as he and Landon got farther away. "Besides. I overheard Dumbledore saying it was probably safer out there than it was in here."

"He did _not_ say that!" Reilly shot. "Come back here before you get expelled!"

"Are you going to turn us in, Reilly?" Landon demanded and her entire face grew red. She stamped her foot down on the ground and crossed her arms over her chest, eyes narrowed to thin slits.

"Fine! Go on your little adventure! But when you two get caught by Snape, don't drag me into it!"

With that said, she stormed off down the hall, leaving them to grin and continue on their way to the entrance where a couple of professors were loitering. Charlie reached into his pocket and pulled out the last two invisible candies and handed one of them to Landon. The two boys chewed on them for a moment before their skin slowly began to disappear. They managed to slip past the professors and after another second, get out the door without being seen.

"It's raining really hard, Landon," Charlie muttered as they ran down the hill towards the lake, eyes searching for the shiny object the two of them had seen from the windows.

"It should be around here somewhere," Landon yelled above the howling wind and Charlie spotted it again, pointing excitedly to a large rock a few meters away.

"There it is! Right there!"

Landon squinted through the rain and grabbed Charlie before he could start running.

"It's in the lake!"

Charlie stopped and looked as well, frowning when he realized that the rock they were staring at was indeed in the lake. He looked around and then turned to Landon.

"It's not far. We can swim over and get it," he suggested and Landon shrugged.

"Come on."

It took a lot more work than Charlie had anticipated, but somehow they managed to get to the large rock and pull themselves out of the water, gasping for breath but grinning still.

"Look, right there," Landon said, scrambling over to where a gold chain was lying, connected to something sparkling. "Charlie, it's moving!"

"What?" Charlie yelped as he carefully picked his way over the jagged surface to where Landon was kneeling, staring at the treasure. "Woah…"

The delicate golden chain was attached to a beautifully carved crystal horse who was tugging on the chain fearfully every time the waves got high. When Landon unhooked the chain from the rock the horse shot under his robes, trying to get out of the rain.

"It's alive?" Landon muttered, picking up the chain so that they both could see. Charlie touched the horse and it began kicking around, still trying to get out of the rain. A crack of lightening woke the two boys from their discovery and they looked around to see that the storm was getting worse. Landon tucked the necklace into his robe pockets and pointed back towards the castle. "Come on, let's go."

They jumped into the lake and fought their way back to the bank, looking around constantly to make sure they were still alone out there. Landon noticed something in the water and began to slow down, watching as a small body appeared out of the lake and began following them.

"Hurry up, Landon!" Charlie yelled. "We need to get inside!"

The little body began speeding up and fear instantly struck Landon as his inner instincts began to kick in. He took off up the hill with Charlie, his sight becoming so much greater through the rain while his friend stumbled over rocks and branches.

"Charlie, run!"

They had almost made it to the doors when a flash of green light startled them and they looked behind to see a tall, dark figure coming up the hill towards them at an incredibly fast pace.

"What the hell are you two doing outside?"

The two boys glanced at each other and remained silent. The man came over and stopped right in front of them, his hood preventing them from seeing who it was.

"Well?"

Charlie pointed towards the lake.

"We… um… saw something in the lake and had to go get it," he said as Landon held up the necklace. The man's eyes widened and he snatched the jewel before the boys could protest.

"Do you know that we're in a storm?" he hissed and the boys exchanged glances.

"Yes."

"And that there's a curfew?"

"Yes."

The man released a frustrated sigh and shoved the two boys towards the large Hogwarts doors.

"You two are worse than I was," he muttered. "Get in."

The moment they were out of the rain, the two boys realized that whoever this person was, he was not a professor. They backed away from him and looked around the entrance for anyone else. However, when the man pulled back his hood, they gasped and stared in awe.

"Harry Potter," they voiced in unison. "Woah…"

Harry ignored the familiar slack jaws and pointed at their uniforms.

"Gryffindor and Slytherin?" he whispered before rolling his eyes and motioning for the stairs. "This is getting ridiculous."

"I thought you'd left England, Mr. Potter," Charlie said as he and Landon followed the man excitedly. Harry sighed and turned to face them.

"You two go back to where you came from before I find Dumbledore and get you expelled," he snapped and their eyes grew to the size of saucers. Harry immediately cursed himself for his quick words and he pulled a silvery cloth out of the bag he was carrying. "Here," he muttered, handing it over to Landon. "Get back to your dormitory." He turned to Charlie. "You're coming with me. I need to find McGonagall."

When Landon didn't move immediately, Harry leaned forward and pointed up the stairs.

"I was joking about the whole expulsion thing," he said. "I won't tell anyone. Now go."

Charlie and Landon exchanged glances before Landon threw on the Invisibility cloak, vanishing from sight. Charlie held his breath a little as Harry led the way up the stairs towards the Gryffindor House. As they moved, paintings would point and follow along, moving through different frames just to keep up with Harry's long strides. Harry's eyes seemed to darken the longer they walked, their audience perturbing him. When they reached the House door, he walked right up to the Fat Lady and pointed to her.

"Could you open up, please?" he asked and she gasped.

"Harry Potter! Oh, goodness! What are you doing here?"

Harry rolled his eyes and sighed.

"I'd prefer if the whole school didn't know I was here," he muttered. "Could you please open the door and keep this to yourself?"

The painting nodded eagerly and swung open, not even noticing as Harry shoved Charlie into the common room. He then moved off down the halls towards Dumbledore's office, slowing down when he noticed several Aurors hanging around the Headmaster's office.

"Bloody hell, I don't need this," he muttered, moving back around the corner so that he could not be seen. He looked down at the necklace in his hand and sighed, tucking it in his pocket. He needed to see her.

"Harry?"

He turned to see Dumbledore coming down the hall by himself. A smile came to Harry's face and he waited until the old man was close before he moved in and hugged him.

"Harry Potter," Dumbledore greeted. "You have impeccable timing."

Harry pulled away and looked over Dumbledore's face quickly. "How are you?" he asked.

Dumbledore instantly saw the weariness in Harry's green eyes and placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "How are you?"

**A/N: YES! YES! Harry's back! (I know some of you are hating me for this, but do not worry. I promised you in ****Drift**** that I would not put them together and I will uphold my promise.) But I'm still excited to have him back. It just means that things will be more interesting and I know you all like interesting. **

**Chapter Tease:**

"_Are you going to kill me, Greyback?" she asked shakily and flinched when he laughed. He leaned into her and nuzzled her neck with his nose while moving his hands down to grip her waist._

"_No," he murmured silkily into her skin. "I'm not going to kill you… not yet anyway…"_


	20. November Highlights

_Life is so constructed that an event does not, can not, will not, match the expectation._ **-Charlotte Bronte**

* * *

"_Albus, I do not think this is safe," Professor McGonagall whispered as they trailed after Remus and Landon at a proper distance. Professor Snape was behind them with Reilly and Charlie. "This is Mr. Greyback's first time and to put those two in such a volatile situation is reckless."_

"_Remus is certain they will not be harmed."_

"_They are not Animagi," she retorted sternly. "They have no way to protect themselves if something goes wrong."_

"_Remus will be there."_

"_Remus barely has control over himself. To ask him to watch over a new transformation is too much."_

"_I agree with Minerva," Snape drawled from behind them. "Lupin is not necessarily in control of himself all the time."_

"_I can handle this, Snape," Remus growled from ahead. Landon had been silent the entire time, his skin paling by the second and his body shaking from fear of what was about to happen to him. _

"_Is Landon going to be okay?" Reilly asked curiously._

"_It's not Mr. Greyback I'm worried about," McGonagall snapped as they finally reached the Forbidden Forest. "There are other things out here that are more dangerous than just a new transformation."_

"_Are you talking about my dad?" Landon finally asked and Dumbledore turned to Snape. "Mr. Malfoy will be watching?"_

_Snape snorted._

"_Hunting is the better term for it, Albus."_

"_Hunting what?" Charlie asked but was ignored. _

"_The moon is almost out. Come on Landon," Remus said and soon everything was quiet. The professors had their wands out at the ready while Charlie and Reilly huddled together by a tree, looking around fearfully for whatever it was that was out there. They had been told to expect something frightening but now that they were finally reaching that moment, they were unable to remember all that they had been told to do when faced with Landon's beast. _

"_Are you scared?" Reilly asked as they waited for something to happen._

"_Yes," Charlie muttered. "You?"_

_She linked her arm with his and rested her head on his shoulder._

"_Yes."_

_A chilling howl caused both Gryffindors to scream in surprise right before pained groans began to slip through the trees. The night Landon had been attacked suddenly hit both children and the terrifying images of the werewolves attacking them only made them more scared. _

"_Here we go again," Snape muttered just as the groaning came to an end and harmonized howls passed through the night. "There!"_

_A small long-legged creature streaked past them, snarling something awful as it was chased by a larger animal, snapping at the thing's heels._

"_Landon!" Reilly screamed and the next moment things went horribly wrong._

* * *

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ginny demanded the moment she caught sight of Draco Malfoy standing with Dumbledore and McGonagall in the waiting room. Ignoring her brother and fiancée, she marched right up to him, glaring at him. "You have a lot of nerve showing up here."

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Weasley," he responded and her eyes narrowed into slits.

"You were supposed to watch her!"

"Funny you say that, seeing that you were no where to be found when this whole thing happened," he replied coldly.

"You son of a bitch!" Ginny screamed, lunging at him. Ron snatched her from around the waist and yanked her back while Draco stood his ground, an amused look teasing his ever perfect face.

"Is that any way to show gratitude for the person who saved your daughter's life?" Draco asked heedlessly.

Ginny's eyes widened briefly before they narrowed and she made another bid to attack him. This time it took both her brother and Jason to keep her off of Draco, who still had not moved from his spot. McGonagall frowned.

"I think it would be best if we all calmed down. Reilly is fine, Ginny," she said, addressing the livid redhead. "Mr. Malfoy got her here in time."

Ginny shoved Ron and Jason away from her, glaring daggers at Draco, who met her gaze with emotionless grey eyes.

"I hope you're happy," she hissed before turning to walk away. Going against the voice in his head telling him not to, Jason assessed the interaction between Ginny and Malfoy, not knowing what he was looking for. It was rare for Ginny to get so upset, even if it Reilly was hurt.

"I'm happier than I was that time we spent at the Ministry of Magic… though, that was a very _stimulating_ occasion," Draco responded, his voice dripping with secretive innuendo.

Ginny stopped in her tracks and her fingers curled around her wand. Jason saw the movement and hesitated on whether to interject.

"I swear to God, if you say one more word," she growled.

Draco snorted.

"You and I both know that saying one more word will only get us in one place."

Ginny moved so fast that not even Draco had time to react to her. She flicked her wand violently at him and suddenly an explosion of black, furious bats surged out of her wand and towards the tall blonde professor.

The force of Ginny's attack not only carried Draco up into the air, but slammed him down into the waiting room chairs, inhibiting him for a few seconds while Ginny strode over to him, eyes blazing.

"You remember that curse? That's what got your arse kicked the year Umbridge decided you were more than just a pretty boy!" she growled, raising her wand at him the moment he got to his feet. "You want clearer signs for the phrase 'go to hell' I suggest you go to Azkaban, otherwise stay the hell away from me and my daughter."

Draco stood up straight, his eyes dancing with mirth as he watched her turn away.

"You know, the last time I remember you hitting me, we were in bed-"

Ginny whirled around.

"GO TO HELL!" she screamed. She ran at him, but this time he moved way too quickly for her to react.

He grabbed her wrists and slammed her violently into the wall, forcing her wand out of her hand.

"Hey!" Jason yelled, rushing in to help Ginny. "Let her go-"

Draco moved one of his hands down to Ginny's throat while the other pointed his wand towards the others in the waiting room, eyes on the struggling redhead.

"Come closer, Conwell," he growled dangerously. "Come any closer and I swear to God, I won't just kill her, but you as well."

"Let her go, Malfoy," Ron hissed. "Let her go!"

"Mr. Malfoy, it would be best if you let Ms. Weasley go right now," McGonagall said, moving a little closer as well. Dumbledore remained silent, watching Draco carefully with twinkling blue eyes.

"You thick wanker," Ginny hissed angrily. "You just can't let things go."

Draco raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side, his eyes roving over her with an obvious and unnerving interest.

"You're one to talk," he replied.

Ginny spit in his face.

"Sod off," she snarled.

"Harsh words from such a pretty face. Jason, I would watch this one. She's meaner than she looks."

Ginny's eyes narrowed, but the vice like grip he had on her throat prevented her from moving and she was too smart to try to pry him away. He was way too strong and much more willing to snap her neck than he was to kiss her.

"Go to hell," she spat.

A smirk teased Draco's lips.

"I remember a time, we were in the prefect bathroom, and you listed a few things that were not so flattering either, but what you did-"

"Bastard!"

This time, it wasn't Ginny who lost it. It was Jason.

The man launched himself at Draco, eyes blazing and wand forgotten, much to his undoing. Draco let go of Ginny and grabbed Jason by the back of the head as he charged at him. He slammed Jason's head into the wall twice before letting the poor man drop to the ground unconscious and bleeding.

"Jason!" Ginny gasped, falling to her knees and grabbing her fiancé's face. She looked up at Draco. "He's unconscious you prick!"

"Mum?"

They all turned to see Reilly standing with Charlie in the hall, both bandaged and weakened. Hermione was standing behind them, worry written all over her face. Reilly's confused eyes fell on Jason and then Draco, who looked way too pleased with himself.

"What's going on?" she asked hesitantly.

Draco snorted and looked down at Ginny.

"Why don't you take care of your daughter like a real mother," he suggested before disapparating. Ginny opened her mouth to say something before she shut it and whipped out her wand and disapparated as well.

Hermione looked over at Ron, who had now moved over to Jason's fallen form.

"What happened?" she asked while McGonagall and Dumbledore began talking in heated whispers.

Ron looked up.

"How the hell should I know?" He conjured up a stretcher and magically lifted Jason up into it before passing him on to a passing nurse. "Ginny and Malfoy were in the same room, what the hell do you think that was about?"

* * *

"YOU HAD NO RIGHT!" Ginny shrieked, following Draco up the hill from Hogsmeade. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Draco whirled around, eyes narrowed.

"You know, for someone who pretends to be so righteous, you seem to have a hard time facing the truth," he hissed. "What's wrong, Ginny? Not having enough fun now that it makes you angry to hear about what used to be?"

Ginny walked right up to him, their faces only a breath apart.

"Reilly is in the hospital and all you can do is bring up our past," she hissed.

"You fail to acknowledge our past," he responded and her eyes darkened.

"None of this is my fault, Draco," she growled. "You're the reason all of this is happening!"

"Oh you two-faced bitch," he snarled, glaring right back at her. "You stand here blaming me when you should be at the hospital with your daughter!"

Ginny hesitated, unsure of how to counter that. She knew he was right and she knew she should go and make sure that Jason was alright, but something in her, something that had woken up since their kiss in the café, was keeping her right there in front of him, captivated by him. That thing inside of her was longing for him to kiss her again and for a moment it looked as if he would, but he then backed away from her.

"You haven't changed at all, Weasley. Still in denial."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He stared at her for a moment before averting his eyes to the ground.

"Go back to St. Mungos, Weasley," he murmured. "Your daughter needs you there."

"I agree with Mr. Malfoy."

They turned to see Dumbledore standing there, watching them carefully. Ginny instantly backed away from Draco, taking deep, shaky breaths while he regained his unfeeling gaze.

"Headmaster," Draco muttered.

Ginny bit her lip and nodded, glancing quickly over at Draco.

"Don't pretend that you've changed, Draco," she hissed. "Everyone knows you're still a killer." With that said, she disapparated again. Dumbledore turned to Draco.

"You know, Draco, when I hired you, I thought you would try to get rid of Greyback as quickly as possible. But now I see that I made a mistake," he whispered as he moved passed Draco. "Why are you drawing this out, Draco?"

"I'm not drawing anything out," Draco said as he fell into step with the older wizard.

"Right, you're just failing to find out where Fenrir is because you're incompetent," Dumbledore finished.

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"Since when did the Headmaster of Hogwarts get sarcastic?"

"Since when did Draco Malfoy forget what happened the last time he fell in love with a Weasley?"

That statement stopped the man in his steps. For a while it looked as if he wasn't even breathing before he finally turned to Dumbledore, but did not look him in the eyes.

"I need more time, sir," he whispered.

Dumbledore was surprised by this turn of events. He had seen Draco destroy himself eleven years ago and he had a feeling it was going to happen again.

It always started with obsession…

It always ended with death…

Dumbledore only hoped that this time, the latter would not be so final.

"Your father changed her, Draco," he murmured. "You can't have her back."

Draco closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he looked over at Hogsmeade.

"I know… I just need more time," he told the old wizard before he continued on his way up to the castle. In the corner of his eye, he could see Valance and Rockwell moving through the trees, just within the shelter of the Forest. He supposed Zabini and Goyle were still following Landon's movements with Remus. The two had gone missing for a while after the boy's attack, only making things difficult for Draco.

His mind traveled back to the events after the Halloween Ball. Something about the werewolf boy's death did not sit well with Draco. To place a new wolf in such an intimate setting such as a school was sloppy. Disorganized. Pointless. Everything Draco knew Greyback was not.

Then why would he send the runt?

Greyback was listless. That was obvious. But then again, so was Draco as Ginny had hinted at earlier. Both men were drawn to death, there was no point in denying it. The allure of that final vulnerability was a thirst not even sex could quench. Draco knew that asking for time was more for other's sakes than his own. Ginerva Weasley was the main reason for his delay.

Draco sighed.

He would have to deal with Greyback eventually. That much was certain.

* * *

Harry Potter walked up the stairs of his old house, running his hands along the walls while the occupants of the paintings trailed behind him quietly, watching him from a respectful distance. Whispers echoed through the ancient walls of the Black manor, reminding Harry of everything that had gone horribly wrong in his life since he had arrived here. Moving down the hall up to his old room, he stopped at the door, staring at the worn sheets and dust covered vanity in the corner. It had been ages since he had come back to this place and he was beginning to remember why.

The House of Black was a lonely place…

Sighing, he moved back down to the kitchen where Kreacher was making tea. The house elf glanced up at him for a moment before reverting his eyes back to the kettle, muttering darkly to himself. Harry ignored the comments, satisfied that the magical creature was no longer trying to kill him. If the house elf wanted to mutter, then let him.

Harry sat down at the kitchen table and opened the Daily Prophet, eyeing the article headed by Hogwarts. It mentioned something about safety and werewolves, only bringing back the conversation he had had with Dumbledore before making a hasty retreat from the castle before anyone else realized he was in town. During the last couple of months, Ron had updated him on what was happening between Draco Malfoy and Fenrir Greyback and after what had happened upon his arrival, it became obvious that things were beginning to get worse.

"Thank you, Kreacher," he murmured when the elf placed a steamy cup of tea in front of him. Bowing low to the ground, Kreacher muttered something as close to a 'you're welcome' as Harry would ever hear before skulking away into the hall.

As he gripped the handle of the teacup, Harry's mind went to Ginny Weasley. There were several reasons why he had stopped talking to her over the past years. Their constant arguments had been one of them. For the first few years after Malfoy had left her, all they did was fight and when they finally did stop, Harry stopped visiting.

It had been years since he'd seen her and now that things were beginning to come into perspective for him, he knew he needed to set everything straight with her before he proceeded with anything else.

It was the least he could do…

A hoot pulled him out of his thoughts and he looked up to see an aged Hedwig flutter through the kitchen door and settle on the table, a letter in her beak. Harry ran a hand over her feathers, amazed at how wonderful she still looked at her age.

"Hey girl," he whispered, taking the letter from her. "Who's it from?" Reading the name on the letter he smiled and quickly opened it.

_Dear Greeneyes,_

_I hope you arrived into England okay. It's only been a couple of days but I already miss you. Please don't forget to take a break and breathe. I need you well rested when you come home. Tell your friends I said hello when you get around to telling them that I actually exist. Until then, my love…_

_Eagerly awaiting your return,_

_Mariel_

Harry folded the letter up gently and tucked it into his pocket, his thoughts wandering to the woman who had written this letter. She was pretty but by no means a supermodel. She was short. Perhaps a bit shorter than Ginny with short brown hair and hazel eyes that had caught his attention a several months ago. That along with her innocent Muggle references and his equal want for privacy drew him to her. Mariel Getman was possibly the most amazing creature he had ever met and her letter only verified his feelings on that matter.

Checking the time, he stood up and walked out of the kitchen. Before he gave any more thought of life on this world, he should pay his respects to those who had left.

Godric's Hallow was a place he had also avoided for a long time.

His parents deserved more.

* * *

Ginny entered her apartment and threw her purse on the couch, falling down beside it and releasing a tired sigh. Reilly had been released from St. Mungos a couple of days ago and things had finally returned to normal. Or as normal as anything could possibly go in her life. Her argument with Draco still replayed several times in her mind and his words still bothered her.

"_Reilly is in the hospital and all you can do is bring up our past," she hissed. _

"_You fail to acknowledge our past," he responded and her eyes darkened. _

"_None of this is my fault, Draco," she growled. "You're the reason all of this is happening!"_

"_Oh you two-faced bitch," he snarled, glaring right back at her. "You stand here blaming me when you should be at the hospital with your daughter!"_

_Ginny hesitated, unsure of how to counter that. She knew he was right and she knew she should go, but something in her, something that had woken up since their kiss in the café, was keeping her right there in front of him, captivated by him. That thing inside of her was longing for him to kiss her again and for a moment it looked as if he would, but he then backed away from her. _

"_You haven't changed at all, Weasley. Still in denial."_

"_I don't know what you're talking about."_

_He stared at her for a moment before averting his eyes to the ground._

"_Go back to St. Mungos, Weasley," he murmured. "Your daughter needs you there."_

She closed her eyes and rubbed them, a throbbing pain slowly making its way to the front of her brain. Getting up from the couch, she walked into her kitchen and grabbed the kettle, filled it with water and placed it on the stove, resting her arms on the counter as she waited for the water to boil. She hadn't slept very well since Reilly had been attacked and now that silence had finally found a place in her flat, her body was beginning to weaken with fatigue. She probably would have fallen asleep if a cold finger had not run up her back. Releasing a gasp, Ginny spun around and nearly passed out from terror.

"Oh my God," she gasped, backing up into the counter.

Fenrir Greyback smiled as he looked around her kitchen.

"This place looks even better in the light," he said. Ginny remained silent, dread reaching through her sinking heart and seizing her spine as a cold sheen of sweat fell upon her pale skin. Her eyes quickly scanned the kitchen for any sort of weapon she could use, but it became obvious that Greyback had no intention of letting her get the chance. He shook a finger at her and laughed. "You've spent too much time with Malfoy. Trying to kill me won't make this any easier." Still Ginny's tongue refused to work while her brain continued to stumble over itself. This was a situation she had never actually thought she would find herself. Now she was wishing she had used her wand to make her tea. Greyback looked over her face and reached out to touch her face, running a finger down her cheek. "Hello Ginny…"

"What do you want?" she finally asked, quivering uncontrollably under his sickening touch. She closed her eyes and her stomach clenched as his fingers moved lower down her neck towards the neck of her shirt.

"Oh Ginny," he whispered, unhooking the first button of her blouse and exposing the crests of her breasts. "You know that's no way to speak to me."

Ginny wanted so badly to shove his hand away but she was too afraid to do so. Her grip on the edge of the counter tightened as she struggled to keep her stomach contents down.

"Are you going to kill me, Greyback?" she asked shakily and flinched when he laughed. He leaned into her and nuzzled her neck with his nose while moving his hands down to grip her waist.

"No," he murmured silkily into her skin. "I'm not going to kill you… not yet anyway…" He pulled away from her and motioned to the kettle, which was starting to whistle. "Let's have us some tea."

Unsure of whether he was serious, Ginny stayed where she was until he actually began going through her cupboards, searching for the tea and cups. While his back was turned to her, she inched over to one of her drawers and opened it, pulling out a knife. Steeling herself up, she lunged at him only to be stopped when he spun around snatched her wrist. His eyes lit up with such an obvious lust as a smirk grew on his face.

"Tea, darling," he said, kissing her bruised wrist with such delicacy that for a moment Ginny nearly forgot who it was. He gently pulled the knife out of her grip and rested it on the counter beside the stove. "Tea first and then if you decide to behave…" He tilted his head towards the knife. "We'll think about that later."

Ginny shuddered at the thought of what he would have planned but nodded quietly and grabbed the kettle, pouring two cups of tea.

"Here you go," she mumbled, shakily handing him his cup. When he took it from her, his fingers brushed against her skin, causing her to shudder and him to smile.

"Scared, Ginny?"

She shifted around and glanced over at the knife again.

"Are you going to kill me?" she asked again, her mind flashing back to Reilly and Rayne. Greyback shook his head and sipped his tea.

"Come now, Ginny. You know very well that you're no good to me dead," he replied. "Draco Malfoy didn't kill over two hundred people for some dead bitch."

Ginny straightened slightly and watched Greyback carefully. Despite the murderous lust that pulsated in his eyes, there was something elegant about the way he held himself, as displayed by the way he drank his tea. Nothing in his stature suggested that he was remotely contemplating harming her and for some reason she relaxed a little. Perhaps she had spent much too much time around Draco.

"Then what are you doing here?"

His eyes traveled down to her breasts briefly before he finished his tea.

"I have my reasons," he replied, going over to the sink.

Ignoring her better judgment, Ginny snatched up the knife and lashed out at him. Greyback dodged the attack, grabbed her wrist in a vice grip and wrenched it around her back, pinning her against the counter with his body.

"That wasn't very nice, Weasley," he growled into her ear as he pulled the knife out of her hand and pressing it against her neck as he took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring with the smell of cinnamon. "You should apologize."

"Bite me," she snapped angrily and he laughed, causing her to cringe as his teeth grazed her skin lightly.

"Oh, you don't want me to do that. I'm still debating whether or not I should take you with me now and start sending Malfoy your body parts in the post," he whispered coldly. "Now apologize before I decide to cut those beautiful pink lips off."

Ginny closed her eyes and after a moment of contemplation she nodded and relaxed against him.

"Fine," she muttered defiantly. "I'm sorry."

Greyback smirked and backed away, handing her the other cup of tea and placing the knife down beside his cup.

"See, Ginny," he whispered. "That wasn't so hard… was it Draco?"

A gasp joined the shattering of Ginny's teacup, her heart slamming against her chest at a maddening rate. She turned to see Draco Malfoy leaning against the kitchen door, eyes fixed emotionlessly on Greyback, who was standing between her and the blonde. Ginny bit her lip to keep from saying anything that would only give the werewolf a reason to act upon Draco presence.

"Don't you have that blonde bitch to shag, Greyback?" he asked quietly.

Greyback grinned and shrugged.

"Emory is actually busy today."

"What a shame. I've enjoyed her company a couple of times. She's a screamer."

Greyback glanced over at Ginny.

"I love it when they scream."

Draco snorted.

"She doesn't scream. She shrieks," he said. "But only for me."

Ginny was flabbergasted and appalled by how calm the two were. Over the past years all she had heard was about how much Greyback and Malfoy loathed each other. How could they possibly stand there and be… _civil_?

"Was there something you needed, Malfoy?" Greyback asked as Ginny continued to stand there, trembling beside him. Draco shook his head.

"Not necessarily. I was in the neighborhood."

"Well," Greyback muttered, running a finger along Ginny's quivering lips. "Ginny and I are busy."

"I don't think so," Draco murmured. "Actually, I think you should leave."

For a moment they were silent, watching each other and sizing up what it would take to kill each other. However, it became obvious to both parties that death now would prove unsatisfying. This was not how it was going to end and both men knew that. Greyback nodded quietly and moved behind Ginny.

"I suppose you're right," he replied, resting his chin on her shoulder. "This has been fun, Ginny," he whispered into her ear, keeping his eyes on Draco's stoic face. "I'll be seeing you soon…"

There was a distinct crack before Ginny released a gasp and ran over to Draco, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his chest.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"For what?" Draco asked, pulling her off of him.

"For coming," she replied, taking quick breaths. She was still shaking from what had happened but was no longer fearful. Greyback would have certainly done something to that she would not soon forget… If it took Draco Malfoy to save her from such a familiar ending, then she was not about to complain.

"I didn't come for you, Weasley," he said, startling her out of her thoughts.

"Then why are you here?" she asked quietly, placing a hand gently on his arm. He pointed behind her and she turned to see a letter resting on her counter. "Oh… Greyback… right…"

Draco moved past her, picking up the letter and tucking it in his robes.

"What else would I be here for?"

Ginny was about to say something but then bit her lip and hesitated, watching silently as he walked out of her kitchen towards the front door. She thought of so many things she should say to him, but every one did not seem appropriate.

"Um… Draco, wait," she stuttered, grabbing his arm to stop him. When he turned to face her, she backed up a little, just becoming aware of the fact that she was alone in her apartment with him. "Um… I wanted to say… um… that is, I wanted to tell you that uh… well… I'm sorry," she blurted out and for the first time in a very long time she saw genuine surprise on his face.

"Sorry?" he repeated, moving closer to her.

She nodded and looked down at her hands, oblivious to how close he was getting to her.

"Um… yes… for what I said before… it wasn't your fault and I apologize for saying so…" When she looked up she took in a sharp breath and bumped into the wall behind her, surprised by how close he was to her. His hands rested on the wall on either side of her, trapping her as he leaned in.

"Well then, I accept your apology," he whispered and she shivered involuntarily at the tone of his voice. However, when he leaned in further and their lips brushed she turned her face away and closed her eyes.

"You should go, Draco," she murmured.

"Why?"

She looked him in the eyes and bit her lips, wishing he would leave.

"Because I don't want you to make the same mistake twice," she whispered.

Draco stared at her for a moment, contemplating the meaning of her words before he pointed to the kitchen.

"I wouldn't worry about Greyback any time soon," he said on his way to the door.

"Why is that?"

"Because the next time you see him, he'll kill you."

"And I shouldn't be worried?" Ginny hissed and a smirk came to his face.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because the next time you see him, I'll kill him first," he said over his shoulder before disappearing out the front door.

* * *

It had been five weeks since the Halloween incident, but there was still something daunting about the way Draco entered the class on Monday morning that made every student grow immobile. The hairs on their necks stood on end while a deep silence fell upon them all. They watched him from their seats, waiting for his voice to cut through the cool air of the DADA classroom. Rayne, was sitting with her friends, holding her breath and praying to God that the man would not snap.

For five whole minutes not one word was said. Draco just sat at his desk and stared at a couple of paintings on the cold walls, observing them as they watched him. He then stood up and moved over to the window, watching passively as snow fell onto the slope.

"How many killing curses are there?"

A frightened gasp escaped a girl's lips from the back of the classroom and a few students started glancing over at the door nervously. When no one responded to Draco's question he rolled his eyes and turned to face them.

"I'm not going to kill you lot, so answer the question," he snapped and after a moment Rayne raised her hand slowly. Draco shook his head. "Not you. I know you know."

A couple of people began whispering amongst one another before a Slytherin boy raised his hand.

"One?"

Draco snorted and shook his head again, going back to his desk.

"No. There are three. Two of them are listed in your book," he told them. "There's the newest, the _Avada Kerdava._ Then there is the _Mirror Macabre_, which is the oldest of killing curses."

"What about the other one?" a girl asked timidly and a smile came to Draco's face.

"That's my own secret," he replied and several students paled. There was a moment's pause before a boy raised his hand. "What?"

"Um… sir… what is the _Mirror Macabre_ curse?" he asked.

"You didn't read the book?"

"You said everything that was in the book," Rayne told him. "Word for word, actually."

Draco met her gaze for a moment before smirking and leaning forward in his seat.

"Do you all want to know about the _Mirror Macabre_ curse?" When no one responded, he sighed and leaned back in his chair, eyes closed as he recalled everything he knew about that particular curse. "Well… before _Avada Kerdava _became the rallying cry of the homicidal wizards and witches out there, there was the _Mirror Macabre_, which is much cruder form. Before we magical folk were able to kill our brethren with the flick of a wrist, we were killing our brethren _and_ ourselves."

"What does that mean?"

"What do you think it means?"

The students thought about this for a moment before speaking.

"That… that people used to kill themselves when they tried to kill someone else?"

"Exactly," Draco said, his eyes darkening. "Unfortunately, the need to kill began to surpass certain people's survival instincts and progress has given us the _Avada Kerdava_ curse."

"Progress?" a girl squeaked.

"Yes, progress, Ms. Winston," Draco replied, standing up and moving around his desk slowly. "Progress is what makes it possible for us to apparate without splinching every single time. Progress is what made it possible for Muggleborns to come to this school…" His eyes landed on them all. "Progress is what's keeping you all alive…. Ah, Professor McGonagall. It's so lovely of you to grace my classroom with your presence."

The students turned to see the professor standing at the door. She motioned to Draco.

"Out here, Professor," she said sternly before disappearing out of the room. Draco grinned and pointed to Rayne.

"Get them started on that spell I taught you a couple of weeks ago," he ordered before leaving his room. He found Dumbledore standing in the hallway with McGonagall. "Is there something you need?"

"We've got a problem," McGonagall said.

"What is it?"

McGonagall glanced over at Dumbledore quickly before pointing down the hall.

"Ms. Weasley, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Greyback… again… This time, Mr. Greyback's _father_ is involved…"

**A/N: Okay, I know at this point you are all seething with rage and wondering what the hell I've been doing for the past month or so. I am so very sorry for making you all wait for this chapter. Not much left to say but I hope you enjoy it anyway. I will try so much harder to get the chapters to you earlier. (I know I said that before.)**

**AngeliqueBlack:** Sorry it took so long to update. I'll try better next time.

**Nori:** I'm glad you liked it. I had to do something with the ball, but I didn't necessarily want it to have something to do with Landon. I love the interactions between Draco and his guys and the Weasleys. It's tense but at the same time extremely playful and amusing. I love writing them. Especially since Ginny seems to be the only one who wants to _really_ get rid of them. As for Harry, we'll be seeing a bit more of him later.

**MeggyandHaku:** I'll try to update quicker.

**Nextbestthing:** I have a few things up my sleeve, but I hope it all makes sense. That's my only problem at this point. Are you still able to beta?

**vampiregirl1990: **I'm so glad you're enjoying the story. As for Reilly and Landon, I think it's a bit too early for that. I still think of the three of them as just friends and not in the "Ron and Hermione were just friends" sort of sense. Perhaps later… If I ever write another story about a later time in this story, but I'm not going to be decisive on the couple.

**DMLoVeR11:** Hopefully the next chapter is in a couple of days.

**FreezingFire81:** I hope you're still loving it!

**purplegabby123:** I think things are going to get a bit more exciting later. Especially with Harry in the mix.


	21. Two and a Half Men

_The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn._ **-David Russell**

* * *

Ginny was beside herself at this point. The entire day had gone horribly wrong from the beginning and after word from Hermione had said that Reilly had gotten herself into a lot of trouble with her two friends, things were only getting worse. She and Jason were supposed to be having dinner at her place that evening to finalize their wedding plans. After Greyback had come to her, she had become reserved in her contact with Jason, not exactly knowing how to explain the situation without bringing Draco into it. They had not seen each other since St. Mungos and she was hoping that tonight would be a good night to discuss that between the hellos and the wedding business. Now after rushing home from work, where she had barely gotten anything done, she had burned the food, making the entire situation worse. An owl had come in a few minutes after she had managed to put out the flames, bringing forth more bad tidings.

_Hey Gin,_

_I know we said we would meet tonight to finalize everything, but I'm a bit swamped at work and something just came up that I can't get out of at present. I won't be able to come over._

_Jason_

On the verge of tears, Ginny quickly tried to clear the kitchen while thinking up an excuse to tell her ornery mother about how she and Jason had not yet agreed on the schedule she had spent months planning. She also had to think of how she was going to deal with Reilly after she came home for Christmas, which only made her brain hurt. Other owls were coming in from her job, explaining in no uncertain terms that certain briefs were to be on certain desks if she were ever to come back to work after the holiday.

"Shit," she swore when a particularly large bird snapped at her finger before flying out the window. "Bloody bird."

"Are you naturally unpleasant?"

The cool drawl startled Ginny to a point where she dropped the pans she had been trying to shove under the counter with her wand, leaving them to crash to the ground with a horrible clatter as she whirled around to see Draco Malfoy standing there with an amused smirk. A smirk she so desperately wanted to punch right off his smooth, flawless face.

"What the _bloody hell_ are you doing here?" she snapped angrily, waving her wand around and again trying to force the pans in their place.

"I finished all of my classes for the year," he replied coolly and she released a frustrated sigh.

"Look, Draco," she hissed. "I don't have time for whatever 'let's shag' comments you might have stored in that thick head of yours. I am _very_ busy and do not want to hear anything about Hogwarts, Greyback or your penis."

Draco raised an eyebrow at her sharp words and came into the kitchen, his nose wrinkling in disgust when he smelt the burnt pasta.

"I don't remember you being such a horrible cook."

"Oh my God!" Ginny snapped, giving up on the pots and turning to face the man. "Will you please?"

"Please what?"

"Leave!" she yelled, pointing to the door. "Seriously, Draco. I'm not in the mood. Go bother someone who's willing to let you in their knickers."

"That used to be you," he pointed out and she made a strange noise half way between a squeal and a growl. Her face was growing red quickly and he could tell his presence was agitating her to a point only he knew how. It was an elating feeling to know he still had that sort of power over her.

"Go away, Draco," she snapped, moving past him towards the living room. "I don't have time for that."

"Then luckily for you, I haven't come here to talk about our former love life," he told her and she hesitated, turning around.

"Then what do you want? And make it quick, I've got other things to do."

Draco pulled a file out and handed it over, waiting until she took it before he went into her kitchen and began looking around for something to drink. Ginny sat down on her couch and flipped through the papers, paling when she saw some of the photos. It took her a moment to realize that every single picture contained an image of her daughter displayed prominently in a place she and Draco had… consummated their relationship…. Well…. Almost everywhere… the only place that was not in the stack was the old DADA room. Thank God…

"Greyback did this?"

"Yes," he replied, grabbing a glass and pouring a light amber liquid into it. "Personally, I thought it was a rather clever."

"Clever?" she repeated, looking over at him. "This is wrong."

"Yes, true, but luckily for you, no one understood what it meant," he muttered, moving over to the couch and sitting down beside her. He felt her stiffen a little and he smiled at her discomfort but said nothing about it. He just sat back and watched as Ginny looked over every place in Hogwarts that had been photographed, displaying a disturbing scene in an area that had once been very intimate for her and Draco.

"How would he know about this?" she asked quietly, running her hand over the picture of the Astronomy Tower. Her eyes moved to Draco. "Did you-"

"Tell Greyback that I shagged you in the Astronomy Tower?" he finished cynically and she became stiff, returning to the photographs. He snorted and took another swig from his glass. "It's not like it was a big secret where we were having sex, Weasley. We weren't necessarily discreet."

"That's not funny, Draco," Ginny snapped irritably, but her warming cheeks betrayed her feelings on the subject. "This is serious. Who's seen this?"

"Besides your brother-"

"Ron's seen them!?"

Draco rolled his eyes and snatched the pictures out of her hand.

"Oh don't start the screeching again. It's really not becoming of you, Weasley," he muttered and she stood up, suddenly remembering everything she had yet to do.

"Get out of my flat, Malfoy," she hissed suddenly, pointing at the door. "Now."

She backed away as Draco slowly got to his feet, his eyes becoming less readable by the second.

"I came to bring you information about your daughter and you want me to leave?"

Ginny's eyes moved over him quickly before she grabbed the glass out of his hand and moved to the kitchen.

"Get out," she said over her shoulder. "Before I cut off what's important to you. And this time I won't leave your parts in places we've shagged."

Before she realized what was actually happened, she found herself pinned in the doorway with Draco's body pressed up against hers.

"Why are you so angry, Weasley?" he asked, smirking when he felt her shiver at his words. "Why are you so tense?"

Ginny closed her eyes and tried to push Draco away, but like countless times she was unable to do so. Instead of wasting her energy on trying to fight her way out of this argument, she relaxed quickly and looked up at him, tilting her head to the side curiously as she released an annoyed sigh.

"What do you want, Draco?" she asked sternly. "In all honesty, what the hell do you want, because I am getting tired of your comments? If you want to get something off of your chest, then do it. Otherwise, leave me be. I've had enough of you to last me a life time, I don't need this."

Draco leaned in so that their lips were a hairsbreadth apart, his eyes moving over her face with such a subtle wanting that her heart fluttered and she could feel her knees begin to weaken.

"Then tell me, Weasley, what _do_ you need?" he replied right before their lips met and her mind flew into a frenzy. For a moment they remained like that, pressed together and unmoving until the temptation of it all grew to great for Ginny to resist and she parted her mouth to him, hating herself inwardly when she felt his lips curve into a smile as the kiss deepened. A gasp escaped her throat when his tongue gently slid across her lower lip and brushed against her own, her body jerking a little at the familiar action. Draco's hands moved away from her arms to her waist, tugging her closer to him as her hands slipped up to his hair.

As things began to heat up and their bodies began to press up lustfully towards each other, there was a nagging at the back of Ginny's mind, telling her that while this was probably the best thing that had happened to her all day, it was also _very_ wrong. Stopping, however, was not something she wanted to do. The familiarity of Draco was much to overwhelming for her to just ignore like some quick infatuation of her early Hogwarts days. His hands curled around the hem of her shirt and pulled up, causing her to shiver as his cool fingers brushed across her skin and making her shift closer to him. There was something deeply disturbing about the way their bodies fit perfectly together but she refused to acknowledge it.

_Ding! Dong!_

Ginny quickly pulled away from Draco's lips, biting her own lip to keep from making any sounds that she knew would further entice him to continue on their former path. She glanced up into his unsettled grey eyes, frozen momentarily by the fact that his hands were still under her shirt. Carefully she pushed his arms away from hers and hurried over to the door, fixing her shirt quickly before twisting the knob quickly.

"Jason!" she gasped when she opened the door. "What the hell?!"

Stunned by her reaction to his appearance, he blinked a little and then snorted.

"Damn it, Gin, I didn't know you'd be this peeved when I said I couldn't come. The meeting I had was pushed back to seven so I decided to drop by for a bit," he said, smiling at the look on her face. He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Are you mad at me or are you just stunned at my beauty?" He handed over the lilies he was holding and moved past her, stopping when he noticed Draco Malfoy standing there, smirk gone. "What the hell is going on?"

All the blood drained from her face and at this point she was panicking.

Did someone hate her?

"I… um…" she stuttered, forgetting to close the door behind her as she moved towards him. "I…"

Jason's eyes fell on Draco and narrowed suspiciously, much to Ginny's dismay. The incident at St. Mungos had not been forgiven on Jason's part and with everything else that had happened, Jason's tolerance for Draco's place in Ginny's life had slowly began to morph into a deep-seeded hatred, leaving his fiancé in a very awkward position.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Before Draco could make any sort of comment that would indicate their previous actions, Ginny jumped in, snatching the forgotten file off the coffee table and handing it to Jason.

"Draco was just dropping these over," she told him quickly. "It's about what happened at Hogwarts earlier."

"Ron was there, he couldn't drop it off?" Jason asked coldly, turning his gaze away from Malfoy.

At that point Ginny wanted to die. Of course Jason had been at Hogwarts. It was his job. Finding herself at a loss for words, Ginny just stood there, unable to move or defend herself. It became increasingly obvious to the two men in the room that she was beginning to lose every bit of control over herself. While this amused Draco, it only seemed to upset Jason and increase his fears about the situation.

"Weasley had other things to do and I was in the neighborhood," Draco drawled, growing tired of the silence.

"You seem to be in the neighborhood quite a bit," Jason replied frigidly, sending Draco a look that clearly expressed his displeasure with the man being there.

Ginny quickly picked up on the tension in his voice and bit her lip. It was a rarity for her to see Jason Conwell upset. His reaction to the kiss she and Draco had shared in September had been sedate. But now she could tell that Draco's continued presence was agitating her fiancé to a point he could no longer hide behind a smile and a shrug. The rigidness in his stance and his set jaw indicated everything she needed to know about his view of Draco at this point.

"We were discussing Reilly, Jason," she whispered meekly, trying desperately not to antagonize him. They were so close to getting married, the last thing she needed was for him to start accusing her of getting back together with her ex-husband, even if her feelings for Draco were starting to resurface. "Um… we were talking about what to do about her relationship with Greyback's son."

"Here?" he asked with a tone that only made her cringe. It was a tone Draco and even Harry had carried on occasions when other men got too close to her. It was not something she wanted to ever hear in Jason's voice. She quickly shook her head and pointed to the door, giving Draco a pleading look her fiancé did not catch.

"No… um… Draco was just leaving," she said quickly, hoping he would actually go this time. To her relief and slight disturbance, Draco smiled and moved past Jason gracefully, his grey eyes finding Ginny's with amusement.

"I was just leaving," he verified, turning to face Ginny. "Rayne will be spending a couple of days with me for the holiday."

Ginny sighed and nodded quickly, desperate to see him leave. It was enough that she had snogged him in her kitchen. For him to still be here while her fiancé was glaring him into next week was torture. She did not need this.

"Fine, fine," she snapped, motioning for him to leave. "Goodbye, Draco."

Draco smirked.

"Don't do anything we wouldn't do," he replied before disappearing out the door, leaving Ginny's face just as red as her hair. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to fix her face so as to not express the distress she had been under in the few minutes that the two men had been in the same room. She then turned to Jason, who was now staring into the living room, eyes glazed over and body language unapproachable. Biting her lip, Ginny touched his shoulder.

"So your meeting was cancelled?"

Jason blinked a couple of times before looking down at her, forcing a smile on his face. However, it was easy for her to see that his mind was still distracted by what had just occurred.

"Um… yeah," he muttered, his eyes falling on the glass of firewhiskey on the table. Knowing very well that Ginny was not a drinker, he eyed it suspiciously before going over to pick it up and move into the kitchen. "How long was Malfoy here again?"

"A couple of minutes before you arrived," Ginny replied in a high pitched voice that was not her own. She swallowed and took another deep breath, trying to calm herself as Jason's eyes seemed to darken. "Um… how was work?" Jason glanced over at her and could see how nervous she was. She caught the look he was giving her and tilted her head to the side curiously. "What?"

He shook his head at her and said, "Nothing," as he placed the glass in the sink, unconsciously looking around the kitchen for any indication of Draco Malfoy's visit.

Ginny misunderstood his abrupt response and touched his arm.

"You're not upset about me agreeing to let Rayne stay with him over the break are you? She is legally still his, you remember," she whispered and he blinked in confusion, having completely missed her question.

"What?"

The corners of Ginny's lips pulled down slightly and she searched Jason's face, trying to find his frame of mind.

"Rayne… I was hoping you weren't upset about that," she restated and he shook his head quickly.

"Um… no… of course… I understand that…"

Ginny's stomach began to do summersaults and she clutched it tightly, hoping to not show nervousness. Draco's visit was clearly bothering him and while she wanted so desperately for him to believe that there was nothing going on between her and the silver-eyed man, she understood his reservations on the matter. In an effort to liven the mood, she looked around and tried to smile.

"How about I make us dinner? Something quick?"

He nodded slowly and she walked over to him, pressing her lips to his earnestly in an attempt to clear his mind of all things Malfoy. When Ginny obtained no reaction she frowned and pulled away. The look on his face caused her to grow stiff and she touched his face.

"Jason, what's wrong?"

He looked up at her for a moment before he sighed and stepped away from her, searching his mind for the right words to say.

"Ever since Malfoy was at your office a few weeks ago, you've been acting funny," he whispered and she bit her lip, growing uncomfortable with where this was going. "Then you two have this huge fight at St. Mungos and instead of staying to check on your daughter, you run off to have a few more words with him. Ever since then you've been extremely quiet and you don't talk to me for the longest time… Then, when we cancel the one dinner we were supposed to have, he pops up again and I… I…" He took a deep breath and it became obvious to her that he was struggling with the right words. It was as if this had been weighing on him for quite some time and finally it was beginning to surface. "Ginny, I have to know…"

Her eyes met his and for a moment she could see the question in his mind before she looked away.

"Know what?" she asked, fiddling with the hem of her shirt anxiously.

"Are… Are you still in love with him?"

It was a wonder to her that Jason could not hear the mad pounding of her heart against her chest as she struggled not to start hyperventilating. It was a question he had asked only once before when they had originally started dating, however back then it was easier to answer the question without the smell of Draco's cologne and the taste of his lips on her.

"In love with who?" she managed to say without sounding like a complete troll.

"Malfoy," he snapped, a bit annoyed by her stalling. "Are you still in love with him?"

Ginny turned to him, apprehension written all over her face. She had hoped he would never ask that question again. She had seen it several times in his eyes, but she had honestly believed that he would never be bold enough to repeat it. Apparently she had underestimated Jason's concern regarding Draco Malfoy.

"In love… Why would I still be in love with Draco?"

Jason hesitated before he moved past her out of the kitchen.

"That look on your face… after he left-"

Ginny knew she had no right to be angry, but for some reason she was.

"Why would you possibly think that I was in love with Draco after everything that's happened?" she demanded and his eyes narrowed.

"You said he was here to deal with Greyback and all he's been doing is visiting you. What the hell am I supposed to think?"

"You have no right to ask the question, Jason! We're divorced! We've been through the worst possible things imaginable but we got a divorce! There is no reason to believe that I would still have feelings for him now!"

"That's _exactly_ the reason why I would think that you still have feelings for him, Ginny!" he retorted angrily. "You two have been through _everything_ together and suddenly he's back and that bastard Greyback is pushing him back towards you! I have every right to ask that question!"

"He's my _ex-husband_, Jason! I have no interest in getting back together with him!"

"Then why can't you answer the question?" Jason asked quietly, stunning her into silence. He searched her face for the answer he so desperately wanted but could not find it anywhere. All he could see was fear and that above everything else hurt him. Tears came to Ginny's eyes and she reached out for his hand but he shook his head and backed away, no longer able to look her in the eyes.

"Jason-"

"We're getting married in a month, Ginny," he whispered calmly, the pain in his eyes growing stronger as he struggled to hold his emotions in check. "I suggest you straighten out your priorities before then."

Without another word, he walked out of the apartment, leaving Ginny to contemplate what exactly it was that she wanted.

* * *

The first week of Reilly and Rayne's return to London was spent mostly at the Burrow while Ginny was still working. Charlie and Landon had come along with their blonde haired friend and after a quick chat with Ginny, had been forced to stay at the Burrow so that Reilly would not get into any more trouble. Rayne spent her time either writing letters to her friends or with Molly, helping out with cooking. Ginny avoided the Burrow as much as possible, her emotional state deteriorating since Jason's departure from her apartment.

She was currently pacing the floor of her office, chewing on her lip and trying to figure out how to go about the problem she had placed herself in. Jason had not answered any of her owls or her Floos and every time she stopped by his office, his secretary, normally a very hospitable and helpful woman, just kept telling Ginny that Jason was not in his office and that he would return her owl when he got around to it. If this had been Draco or even Harry, Ginny would have given up a long time ago, but Jason was one she could not allow herself to lose because of another man.

"Ginny?"

Looking up, Ginny found Hermione and Luna standing at her door, watching her carefully.

"Are you okay?" Luna asked. "We have a lunch date remember?"

Ginny blinked a couple of times before she nodded and grabbed her purse, shutting the door behind her before they left. They exited the Ministry of Magic and went down the snowy streets before reaching a restaurant they all agreed on. They sat down and ordered some drinks before Hermione and Luna turned to their redheaded friend.

"Ginny, are you okay?" Luna asked again as the waiter left them. "You look pale."

She was about to tell them that she was fine and that nothing was wrong, but suddenly a sharp pain struck her and she quickly sucked in some air, biting the inside of her mouth to keep from crying as her eyes began to well up with tears. Both women noticed the pain in her eyes and took her hands, eyes wide with fear.

"Ginny, what's wrong?" Hermione asked and Ginny sighed.

"Jason and I might not get married," she muttered and cringed at the gasps she received.

"Really?"

Nodding, she looked down at her hands and took another deep breath.

"Um… we had this row a week ago… about Draco," she said and instantly her friends became curious.

"What happened?"

"Why would Jason be worried about Draco?"

Ginny shook her head.

"Draco came over to my flat and Jason arrived while he was still there," she explained. "Jason got upset and… and he asked me if… he asked me if I was still in love with Draco…"

Luna and Hermione exchanged glances before leaning forward.

"And?" Luna pressed.

Ginny groaned and placed her head in her hands.

"I couldn't even answer him and he basically told me that the wedding was off if I didn't deal with it," she mumbled pitifully into her fingers.

"You didn't answer him?!" Hermione yelped, drawing attention from other patrons of the restaurant. Blushing, she leaned in further with narrowed eyes. "You're not still in love with Malfoy are you?"

Ginny's eyes widened and she quickly shook her head, trying desperately not to think about the kiss before her fiancé had arrived that day.

"No!" she hissed. "No, I am not still in love with Draco…"

"But?" Luna led in, sensing something else.

The hesitation in Ginny's eyes was enough for them. Hermione sighed and leaned back in her chair while Luna just watched Ginny carefully. The woman took a while to respond and when she did, her words were very uncertain.

"Jason's just overreacting," she muttered. "Restarting a relationship with Draco would be-"

"Jason didn't ask you if you and Draco were going to get back together," Hermione pointed out quickly, her face filling with deep concern. "He asked you if you were still in love with Draco. There's a big difference Ginny and you haven't even answered the question, which leads us to believe-"

"I'm not still in love with Draco," Ginny snapped just as the waiter arrived with their drinks. The man gave her a look and she shot him a glare, ordering her food quickly before looking around the area defiantly while her two friends took their time to pick their dish. Stillness fell over them for quite some time, making Ginny feel even worse about what was happening than she did before.

"How's your pregnancy going, Luna?" Hermione asked quietly after a while and Ginny released a sigh, thankful for the change of subject.

"Fine. Blaise has been a bigger help than expected. I think he's really excited for another boy," Luna replied serenely. "He likes to rub my belly."

Ginny turned to Luna.

"Has he told you anything about Greyback?" she asked and Luna shook her head.

"We don't necessarily talk about those things, Ginny," she said. "He keeps those things to himself."

Ginny nodded sullenly and sank down in her chair, her mind going back to the look on Jason's face when he had left her flat. It hurt to know he was so disappointed in her and she had to find a way to make it right before the situation got any worse. Hopefully the upcoming Christmas season would put him in a better mood to converse.

"Ron's really excited," Hermione said, bringing Ginny out of her depressed stupor. "He got an owl from Remus saying that Harry might be coming over for Christmas."

Ginny immediately sat up straighter in her chair.

"Seriously?"

Hermione frowned, knowing just how much Harry's absence had been to Ginny.

"I'm not exactly sure he'll go to the Burrow, Ginny," she whispered quietly. "All I know is that he'll be in town… he might just be here to see Dumbledore."

Luna and Hermione quickly saw the disappointment in Ginny's eyes and knew that this information was hurtful. After everything that had happened between Harry and Ginny, it was sad to see just how far Harry had gone to distance himself from the redhead. Hermione had brought it up in the few times that she had been able to talk to Harry personally, but he always managed to dodge the question with a strange look in his green eyes.

"Oh," was all Ginny could muster up before she returned to staring ruefully at her drink. Luna tilted her head to the side and turned to Hermione.

"Will Remus be staying for Christmas?" she asked and Hermione nodded.

"Mrs. Weasley practically threatened him to stay," she replied with a smile.

"Has he even talked to Tonks yet?" Ginny asked suddenly, still staring at her glass.

Hermione knew that her question had absolutely nothing to do with Tonks, but decided to answer the question anyway.

"No, he hasn't."

"Why not?"

"I don't know," Hermione answered. "Ron's asked but Remus doesn't answer."

"But-"

"Excuse me, miss, but this letter came for you," their waiter interrupted, handing Ginny a letter. Ginny opened it and read it quickly before sighing and getting up.

"It's Rayne," she muttered. "I need to go. I'll see you two later."

Before the other two could get another word in, Ginny walked out of the restaurant and disapparated. She reappeared at her apartment complex and quickly hurried up the stairs, getting ready to berate Rayne for not being able to get into the apartment when the person standing at the door paralyzed her.

"Harry…"

Harry Potter turned around and stared at Ginny for a moment before offering a meek smile as he stood there in his snow covered coat. He pointed behind her as if to explain where he had come from.

"I… was in the neighborhood… I wanted to see you," he muttered, hesitating a little when she failed to move. Parted lips, wide eyes and pale face only verified how shocked she was to see him. "Ginny, I understand if you don't want to see me-"

"No!" Ginny suddenly shouted, slapping her hand to her face at her sudden outburst. Her ears grew red and she walked over to where he stood by her door, looking over him quickly, trying to memorize him before he disappeared again. "No, no… um… no, don't go…" She pulled out her wand and opened her door, grabbing his hand and pulling him into her flat. "I um… come in…"

Harry bit his lip, unsure of how to go about her reaction to his appearance.

"Ginny, really, if you don't want me here-"

Ignoring him, she helped him take of his coat and after removing hers; she led him into her living room and sat him down. She then began running around her apartment, trying to clean up the mess her two daughters had made while searching the kitchen for something to drink.

"Are you thirsty? What about a butterbeer? Or a firewhiskey?" she added, thinking more of herself than him.

Harry got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen, worried about Ginny's state.

"Ginny, I'm fine," he whispered. "Really, you don't need to-"

"I'm sorry this place is a mess. The girls have been a bit-"

"Ginny!" Harry snapped, grabbing her and turning her around to face him. They stared at each other for a moment before Harry looked away and released his grip on her, his cheeks reddening. Ginny just continued to stare at him, her mind going into overdrive. Despite a slight paleness, he was exactly the same. His eyes were still that beautiful green that she had fallen in love with in. Her mind swirled with questions about his sudden appearance. Over the years, he had made it very clear to her that their relationship would never be as it used to. When he visited England, he stopped by her place less and less until he stopped coming altogether. He would avoid her at the Burrow and if they did speak, the topics would be kept strictly to the weather or Quiddich. The fact that he had come to her only made her wonder what was wrong.

"Harry, what are you doing here?" she asked, not really thinking about how she sounded. He flinched at her tone and finally looked up.

"I um… I wanted to see you," he muttered, confusing her even more. In the past eleven years, she had probably only seen Harry four or five times. Never had it been because he had _wanted_ to see her.

"You wanted to see me," she repeated and he bit his lip.

"Ginny… I-"

"Do Ron and Hermione know you're in London?" she interrupted rudely, suddenly a bit irritated by his lack of speech. What was he doing here?

Harry paled at the question and shook his head.

"No… um… Dumbledore's the only one who knows I'm here," he muttered and she backed away from him.

"Then what are you doing here?" she asked again and to her concern, he seemed to pale even more.

"I wanted to see you," he repeated and she frowned.

"I don't understand," Ginny muttered. "Why don't Ron and Hermione know you're here?"

Harry released a frustrated sigh.

"Damn it, Ginny. Can't I just come and see you?"

Ginny was angry at this point. Despite her want to see Harry again, now that she had gotten her wish, she could not help but be enraged at him. The nerve he had to come back and then stumble over himself was somehow inexcusable. Perhaps she was just placing the anger she felt towards Draco and the hurt she felt against Jason on to him unfairly, but at this time she did not care.

"No you can't," she snapped, walking past him into the living room. "It's been four bloody years since I last saw you Harry and you have so much as once answered any of my owls. You can't do something like that and just expect me to understand why you suddenly pop up at my flat unannounced and with absolutely no one else knowing that you're in London!"

"I needed to talk to you first," Harry responded. His purpose in coming here was not to get into a fight with Ginny. She was the last person in the world he wanted to hate him now, but he understood her anger completely. He had no right to expect anymore than distrust and resentment from her. It was his fault she had gotten that way.

"No, Harry! You can't stay silent for so many years and then just want to talk!"

"It's important," he retorted as his body began to weaken and pale severely. Ginny completely missed this and walked right past him.

"Then talk to Ron about it because I personally don't care anymore," she snapped, pointing to the door. "Get out-"

"I'm dying."

For some reason, Ginny wanted to start laughing. Of course Harry Potter was dying. Saying that was possibly the only ways to get her to stop making him leave. Her lips were ready to pull up in a smile when she turned to face him and suddenly realized just how pale he was. Just how serious he was.

Suddenly she felt exactly as she did when the war against Voldemort had reached its climax. Small, alone and very, very cold. There was something surreal about the moments that passed between Harry's words and the time it took for her to process their meaning. Her heart stopped beating and everything around her ceased to exist. The nerves in her body began to burn with excruciating pain but she was oblivious to it all as beautiful green eyes displayed the truth in the tortuous statement.

Ginny closed her eyes quickly like she did when she was a little girl, wishing away the monster under her bed. She prayed to whoever would listen that this was a nightmare and that she would wake up and it would all be okay. Waiting for a couple of seconds, she finally opened her eyes and found that Harry was still there, just as pale and weak as ever.

"No," she gasped, her chest constricting agonizingly around her lungs. She shook her head as tears welled up in her burning eyes. "Harry, no…"

He looked away from her, unable to bear the pain that flooded her eyes.

"Um… a couple of months ago… I noticed that I was getting sick all the time… I went to a Healer and he told me…"

Ginny placed her hand over her mouth, trying to block the scream that was threatening to rip through.

"No," she murmured. "No…"

"It turns out that Voldemort and I were connected even in death… and the curse I used to kill him is starting to kill me…"

A sob escaped Ginny's lips.

"Oh my God!" she gasped and in two steps Harry had her in his arms, holding her up as she began to cry into his shoulder. "Harry…"

"It's okay, Ginny," he whispered into her hair. "It's going to be okay."

She pulled away from him a little to look into his eyes, shock and pain still pulsating in her own.

"How could you say that it's going to be okay? You're dying-"

"I came to grips with death years ago, Ginny," he murmured, wiping the tears off of her face. "I don't want you crying for me."

Ginny reached up and touched his face, amazed at how much it had changed since the last time she had seen him.

"I don't want you to die, Harry."

To her surprise, he laughed as he moved them over to the couch and sat them down, taking her hand in his.

"I'm not going to die any time soon, Ginny," he whispered quietly and she frowned.

"Do Ron and Hermione know?" she asked and he shook his head quickly.

"No and I don't want you to tell them," he replied curtly. "I don't want them treating me differently…"

Ginny sucked in a quick breath and bit her lip, trying to think of what to say. Her mind was still hazy with his confession and chest was clenching to a point where she could hardly breathe. Harry saw her struggling with herself and tried to smile.

"Maybe I'll have that drink," he whispered and she released a short gasp before she nodded and wiped her eyes quickly, getting up.

"Um… yeah, I'll go get something," she mumbled, hurrying into the kitchen and grabbing the remainder of the firewhiskey and two glasses. She walked back into the living room and sat down beside Harry, pouring the amber liquid to the brim of both glasses before grabbing her own and taking a huge swig. Her throat burned but she didn't care. She just gulped it down and coughed heavily after she placed the glass back down, her mind screaming from the unnecessary action. Harry took a sip from his glass, watching her carefully.

"Slow down, Gin," he advised quietly. "I'm not dead yet."

She shot him a nasty look as she poured more whiskey into her tumbler.

"That's not funny, Harry," she snapped heatedly, taking another quaff and closing her eyes as another burning sensation went down her throat.

"I wasn't trying to be funny, Ginny," he replied, sighing as he watched her set down her glass and glare at the bottle of firewhiskey. Ginny placed a hand to her head and groaned.

"Why did you tell me?"

Harry frowned and turned to look at her, setting down his own glass.

"What?"

She opened her eyes and looked over at him.

"Why did you tell me first?"

Harry looked down at his hands and sighed, his mind roving over the past eleven years.

"I um… I came here to apologize… for everything I've done to you," he murmured. "I… I abandoned you and I… I am _so_ sorry, Ginny…" He looked up at her. "It's just… after everything that happened between us and then after Malfoy… I didn't know how to face you anymore."

"Face me?" Ginny repeated, placing a hand on his arm. "Why would you be unable to face me?"

He looked away from her again and took a deep breath, the past flooding his forlorn green eyes.

"After we found out you were pregnant, I thought that would be the end of it… I thought you and Malfoy would call it quits and… things would go back to normal… or as normal as they could possibly be in those circumstances… but then… you married Malfoy," he muttered with such bitterness that a cold chill raced down her spine. His eyes clouded over with such an acute pain that Ginny could not help but hurt as well. "I hated you for that, Ginny… I really did… I hated you so much…" Ginny's eyes widened and she removed her hand from his.

"You… you… you _hated_ me?"

He nodded, still not looking her in the eyes.

"I hated you for still loving Malfoy after everything that he'd done… and I hated myself for feeling that way," he whispered, shaking his head. "After that, I just couldn't face you anymore… and I'm sorry for that…"

Unable to conjure up any words that would help the situation, Ginny sat back on the couch and stared at Harry, stunned by his dark confession.

Eleven years of absence boiled down to his hatred for her in the few months she had been married to Draco. While she understood his reasoning, it pained her to think that he had been torturing himself over how he had felt at that time. Would he still be avoiding her now if his death had not arrived on his doorstep so soon?

"Do you need a place to stay?" she asked quietly after a few more minutes of silence. A ghost of a smile appeared on Harry's place and he shook his head.

"No… I'm staying at Sirirus' place," he replied and Ginny nodded.

"Of course," she muttered. "Will you be coming to the Burrow for Christmas?"

Harry nodded, looking up at her.

"This might be my last one," he whispered and immediately regretted it when her eyes filled with more tears. He reached over and pulled her into a hug. "Sorry," he muttered. "I shouldn't have said that."

Ginny bit her lip and took a deep breath, pulling away from him.

"Um…" she stuttered, looking around her living room for something to talk about. "Um… how's Germany?"

If it was possible, Harry's face changed from pale to red in a matter of two seconds. He shifted a little in his seat and turned to face her.

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," he said.

"What?"

Harry took a deep breath and pulled a small, black velvet box out of his pocket.

"Harry!" Ginny gasped, jumping out of her seat and moving away from him quickly. "I'm already getting married!"

Harry's reddened more and he shook his head hastily.

"No, this isn't for you, Ginny," he corrected, standing up and moving over to her. "It's Mariel's."

Ginny hesitated for a moment before she spoke.

"Mariel?"

"Mariel Getman. The woman I've been seeing," he explained and her eyes widened. Hermione had failed to mention that Harry was seeing someone.

"Oh," she muttered before taking the box from him and opening it curiously. Inside was one of the most beautiful rings she had ever set eyes on. "Wow… she must be very special…"

"She is," Harry whispered, drawing her attention. Their eyes connected for a few seconds before Ginny blushed furiously and handed him back the ring.

"Um… so does she know?" she asked quietly and he nodded.

"She, you and Dumbledore are the only ones," he muttered before shifting again in embarrassment. "She's pregnant."

"What?!?" Ginny gasped, looking up at Harry. "Seriously?"

Harry nodded with a timid smile on his face.

"She told me a couple of weeks ago," he said. "I was going to ask her anyway, but I decided…"

"Why wait," Ginny finished, encouraging him with a smile. He nodded again and tucked the box into his pocket.

"I um… I've actually already asked her, but I came up to England to get the ring," he explained. "I was wondering… if you would be a witness for our wedding."

Ginny's eyes widened.

"Me? What about Ron and Hermione? What about _mum_?" Ginny added, remembering how upset her mother had been when she and Jason had postponed telling her that they were engaged. "Aren't you going to tell them?"

Harry paled, but shook his head nonetheless.

"I… um… Ginny, you know the moment I tell your mother, the whole world will know and Mariel and I don't necessarily need the press at our wedding. Just you…"

Ginny frowned.

"What about Ron and Hermione? They're going to want to know about this-"

"And I'll tell them after… I just…" He stopped here and looked around the room. "Ginny, I know we haven't been as close as we should have been… but… I want you to be there."

"Why me?"

"Why do I need a reason?"

Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"Because for the past eleven years you have avoided me and then suddenly you come back to ask me to be a witness to your wedding," she whispered. "I'd like to know why me."

He blushed a little and said, "Because for once I'd like to do something with you that didn't bring your world crashing to the ground…"

Ginny smiled at the reference and pulled him into a hug, nodding.

"Okay… I'll be there… but only if you promise me you'll come to the Burrow for Christmas."

Harry smiled back.

"I'll do something better. We go to Germany tomorrow and then I'll bring Mariel with me for Christmas."

"Tomorrow?!" Ginny yelped. "You want to get married tomorrow?"

Harry nodded quickly.

"I don't have much time left, Ginny and I… I don't want to mess this up…"

Ginny stared at him for a moment before she nodded and kissed his cheek quickly. After years of wanting so much to understand Harry Potter, he was finally giving her the chance with no one else to interfere. They had reached closure in their relationship years ago, but now there was a chance for them to become closer again and she would not let that slip away.

"Okay, Harry… tomorrow…"

**A/N: Ginny snogs her ex-husband, pisses off her fiancé and makes up with a former lover in a matter of a week or so. She's got some serious issues.**

**R/R!!!**

**Chapter Tease for "Berlin":**

"_I love you."_

_Ginny closed her eyes as more tears left stains on her pale cheeks. _

"_Harry, please-"_

_He grabbed her hands and forced her to look at him._

"_Ginny," he hissed and her lips pursed into thin lines. "I love you."_


	22. Berlin

_Those truly linked don't need correspondence. When they meet again after many years apart, their friendship is as true as ever._ **-Deng Ming-Dao**

_

* * *

_

Just think of Berlin…

_Don't think of work or family…_

_Just think of Berlin…_

Thos were the words Ginny told herself as she stared out into the cobblestone streets of the German city, smiling as people began to scatter due to the rain that began to fall from the grey, dreary sky. Above she could hear the perspiration of heaven on the roof and it was somehow soothing as she waited for Harry to return. They had arrived in Germany a couple of hours ago and after Harry had given her a small tour of the city, he had left to go get Mariel and give her the ring.

Taking a deep breath, Ginny tugged on her sweater a little and then looked around the apartment. It was a comfortable living space with a large master bedroom and additional bedroom down the hall. Not glamorous at all for the hero, but suitable nonetheless. To no surprise, there were barely any pictures in the flat and those that were present were of Ron, Hermione and her family. Hedwig was preening herself on a perch in the living room, hooting occasionally.

Sighing, she sat down on the couch and tapped her hands against her legs. Ginny didn't know why she was so nervous. Mariel Getman was not someone she should feel intimidated by or worry about impressing. It was obvious to her that Harry was serious about marrying the woman and there was no doubt in her mind, judging by the way Harry had talked about her while they had conversed earlier, that Harry's fiancé was much more concerned about meeting the groom's former lady love.

But that did not stop her palms from getting clammy and her heart to speed up a little. Perhaps she was nervous because she was about to see who Harry had turned to after giving her up and hoped that this woman was worth it.

Closing her eyes, she cursed herself immediately after that thought crossed her mind.

She needed to stop thinking that way.

Admittedly, when Ginny had seen the ring back at her apartment, a spark of jealousy had risen from the depths of her heart where she had, up until September, managed to carefully stash her feelings for both men. Not because of the size of the ring. Draco's had been much more extravagant. Probably because of all of the implications that came with that ring. It was a promise of intimacy that Harry had refused to offer Ginny. A promise of intimacy that she and Draco had only shared for a few months. A promise of intimacy that Jason had suddenly dispelled.

She released a groan.

_Great_, she thought bitterly. _I haven't even met her and I'm already jealous of her. _

The sound of the door opening brought Ginny up to her feet and her lip between her teeth as she waited for Harry to appear.

"She should be in here."

"I still can't believe you left her alone, Harry," she heard a woman scold. There was obvious annoyance in the voice, but there was also excitement, amusement and nervousness. "We're getting married in a few hours, the least you could have done is brought her over for breakfast."

"You weren't feeling well."

"Whatever Harry," Mariel said, waving her hand to dismiss his statement. Ginny quickly assessed the woman and smiled. Harry's description of her was completely accurate. The moment Mariel caught sight of Ginny, a grin came to her face and she hurried over to Harry's friend. "Oh, you must be Ginny Weasley. Wow, Harry was right, you are beautiful."

Ginny blushed and held out her hand.

"You must be Mariel. You're gorgeous," she replied sincerely. A mock insulted look appeared on Mariel's face and she swatted Ginny's hand away, pulling the woman into a hug.

"We'll have none of that hand shaking business, Weasley," she snapped quickly. "It is so good to see you! Harry's always talking about you and I've wanted to meet you for so long." She glanced over at Harry and smiled, tugging Ginny down to the couch while she set her bag down on the coffee table. "I'm going to be honest, I was a little jealous of you until he told me that you were actually getting married yourself. I am so glad you decided to come."

Ginny looked up at Harry as well and tilted her head to the side.

"Well… Harry's a good man," she replied genuinely. "I hope he deserves you."

Mariel's eyes widened and she shook her head while he sat down in the chair beside her.

"_Deserve_ me?" she gasped in astonishment. "If anything, I'm the one who should hope to deserve him. I mean… the way he talked about you… your family… England in general… I'm surprised you two didn't actually get married."

Ginny stared at Mariel for three whole minutes before her mind finally understood what the woman had just said. Had Harry been _that_ honest with Mariel about his relationship with Ginny? Noticing her surprise, Harry smiled.

"Mariel knows… everything," he told Ginny and she bit her lip.

"Everything?"

A blush crept onto the man's cheeks and he looked down at his hands.

"About us. Not about you," he corrected and Mariel smiled.

"Are you two talking about Draco Malfoy?" she asked curiously and Ginny's eyes widened. Alarmed by the look, Mariel took Ginny's hand and shook her head. "Harry hasn't told me much, Ginny. Just that you and Malfoy used to be… _close_… I believe that's the word he used… _repeatedly._," she added with a grin as she placed a hand on Harry's leg. Ginny immediately knew she would like this woman and her previous worries about this encounter vanished. It was like the sister she never had and despite her annoyed glances at Harry when they had come in, it was obvious that they clearly loved each other.

A sudden thunderclap awoke Ginny from her thoughts and they all looked out the window to see a strike of lightening as the rain began to pound against the glass. Mariel bit her lip and turned to Harry.

"Is that a bad omen?"

Harry smiled and kissed her cheek before he got up and moved to the kitchen.

"I've seen enough bad omens to know that rain isn't one," he said. The two women watched him leave before Mariel turned to Ginny.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" she asked in such a serious matter that it took Ginny a moment to adjust.

"Excuse me?"

The fiancé blushed and motioned between Ginny and the kitchen.

"Harry's told me about your past and how you two haven't talked in a long time," she explained. "If you don't feel comfortable with this…"

Ginny reached out and took Mariel's hand, a warm smile on her face.

"Mariel, in the few minutes that I've known you, I can already see that Harry loves you a lot," she whispered, looking over at the kitchen. "Whatever Harry and I had been was resolved back in Hogwarts…"

Mariel looked over Ginny's face and tilted her head to the side.

"You still love him, don't you?"

Ginny's face reddened and she lifted her left hand.

"I don't know if he told you, but I'm also getting married."

Shaking her head, Mariel stood up and took Ginny's hand.

"Harry, we'll be back in a second," she said before taking Ginny down the hall to Harry's bedroom. The brunette moved to the vanity and pulled something out, handing it over to Ginny. Ginny took it and bit her lip when she saw the image of her and Harry staring up at her, waving, holding hands and sharing a quick kiss before returning to waving. It was a photograph Ginny had not seen in years. In fact, she thought she had lost it. Tears actually came to her eyes and she took a deep breath to control the sudden rush of emotions the picture drew out. Mariel noticed this and smiled. "You coming means a lot to him," she whispered. "He really cares about you."

Ginny smiled and placed the picture down on the vanity.

"Harry cares about a lot of people," she replied. "And they all care about him…"

Mariel reached out and took Ginny's hand earnestly.

"But he loves you," she said quietly and after receiving a stunned look on Ginny's face she smiled. "And judging by the look on your face, you still love him too."

"Harry loves you," Ginny tried to correct but Mariel seemed to be content with the truth.

"Ginny," she interrupted. "I know how much Harry loves me and I know he would die for me. But I am not naïve." She pointed to the picture. "His eyes light up every time you're mentioned. He's even murmured your name a couple of times in his sleep." At this point, Ginny's face was burning and she could no longer look Harry's fiancée in the eyes. Mariel noticed and she shook Ginny's hands a little. "I have no qualms about his feelings for you. I've accepted it." A grin came to her face. "The only thing I'm worried about is you growing a conscience and interrupting the wedding to pour out your feelings for him. So please don't keep them stuffed down there for too long."

Ginny was shocked by the woman's candor. She had not expected her to be so blunt about her feelings towards Ginny and Ginny's relationship with Harry. However, the words she had said made sense and instead of trying to protest, she just nodded mutely and looked around the bedroom before she turned to Mariel, concern in her eyes.

"How are you doing?" she asked sincerely and the woman immediately knew what Ginny was talking about. Her face became pale and she touched her stomach lightly.

"The pregnancy… was _unexpected_," she murmured. "But… Harry was really good about it…"

"Did you get pregnant before or after…" Ginny drifted off in mid-sentence, unsure of whether the question was appropriate for such a new friendship, but Mariel did not seem to mind it at all.

"Harry told me after I was pregnant but before I knew," she clarified, a small smile coming to her face while tears filled her eyes. "He was _so_ scared… That's the first time I ever saw him cry. I think he was thinking about his own parents and how he never really knew them…" She looked up at Ginny. "I'm hoping he lives long enough for our child to be born."

Ginny nodded silently, taking the woman's hand in her own. Everything about this situation reminded Ginny so much of her own history that it moved her to feel for Mariel in a way that she had never felt in such a long time. She was all too familiar with the fears Harry went through when something bad happened in his life.

"Mariel?"

Both women walked out of the bedroom to where Harry was standing in the living room, looking down at his watch.

"Don't you need to go get to Frankfurt?" he asked and when she caught sight of the time, a gasp escaped her lips and she snatched her bag up from the coffee table.

"You're right! Oh, I just lost track of time," she said, turning to Ginny. "I'll see you later Ginny, but I've got to go visit a friend of mine quickly before the wedding."

Ginny smiled and hugged the woman.

"It was wonderful to meet you."

Mariel grinned as she turned to Harry, kissing his lips and placing a hand on his cheek.

"Are you going to be okay?"

He nodded and kissed her again.

"I'll be fine. I'll see you later, okay?"

A weird look came over Mariel's face and she nodded quietly, giving Ginny a small wave before she walked out the door. There was a moment of silent before Harry sat down on the couch and ran his hands through his hair, taking a ragged breath. Ginny moved over to sit beside him, placing a hand on his leg comfortingly. He opened his eyes and looked down at her hand for a moment before he took another breath.

"Why did you decide to come?" he asked quietly.

"What?"

He turned to look up at her.

"Why did you decide to come?"

Ginny touched his pale face, holding his gaze and seeing just how much pain he was in.

"You deserve to be happy, Harry. You deserve to have a normal life with a woman who _obviously _loves you. I came to make sure you got that," she whispered.

He stared at her for a moment, contemplating her words and the feelings she was trying to express through her eyes. His heart constricted at the sincerity in her tone and he could not help but pull her into a hug.

"I don't deserve you, Ginny," he murmured into her hair. "I really don't."

Ginny held on to him as she tried to suppress the tears that began to fill her eyes. There were no words she could think of that could possibly stop the pain of this moment so she said nothing. She just embraced him with all her might, knowing that one day she would never be able to. When they finally pulled apart, she sniffed and wiped her eyes, taking calming breaths as Harry stood up.

"I like her," she told him as he straightened the magazines on the table. He looked up at Ginny and smiled.

"She likes you."

A soft smile came to her face and his heart warmed at the sight.

"Well then… let's get you ready so she doesn't start hating me."

* * *

It was two hours later and Ginny was waiting at the door, wearing a short black dress and her hair up in a tight bun. She had just finished getting ready for the wedding and was now waiting for Harry, who had not appeared from his bedroom since he had gone in there an hour earlier. After checking the time, she walked over to this bedroom door and knocked a couple of times.

"Harry, are you okay?"

There was a short pause before the door opened and Harry appeared, pale and clutching a tie rigidly in his hand. Biting her lip, she moved past him and motioned to the tie.

"Here, let me help," she whispered and he handed it over, moving to stand by the mirror again. She wrapped the tie around his neck and began to make it up, glancing up at his face, which was currently glistening with sweat. Upon seeing this, she could not help but smile a little. Nervousness was understandable. Harry was about to do something life-changing. But it even with that in mind, she still could not help but be amused. He had faced Voldemort and managed to survive (barely), yet he was getting sweaty because of a couple of 'I do's'. He caught the look she gave him and tried to smile.

"Hermione used to do this for me," he muttered and she smiled.

"She's going to kill you when she finds out she wasn't able to," she replied before blanching and looked up at him, horror in her eyes. "Oh Harry, I didn't mean-"

He waved his hand.

"Don't worry about it," he whispered quickly. "Mariel does it all the time. I don't think it's sunk in for her yet."

Ginny bit her lip and finished making up his tie.

"I don't think it will ever sink in," she muttered. A tense silence fell over the two as she stepped out of the way for him to look at himself in the full length mirror. The faint drizzle from outside could be heard tapping on the window, asking to witness the novelty happening inside. Even Hedwig, who had moved into the bedroom a few minutes earlier, watched the couple with a nostalgic glint in her fierce eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Harry turned to face Ginny, holding out his hands to model.

"Well?" he asked before noticing the tears that were coming to her eyes. He frowned and reached out for her but she shook her head and stepped away, wiping angrily at her tears.

"I'm fine Harry."

"Are you sure?" he asked, knowing very well that this whole situation was finally beginning to sink in. "Ginny, if-"

"I'm fine, really," she whispered, straightening up and trying to smile. "I'm fine."

Yet even as she said this, her body seemed to crumble as the magnitude of this moment finally caught up with her, suffocating her with emotions she had managed to restrain for over eleven years. Harry grabbed her arm and pulled her into a firm embrace, wanting nothing more than to take away every mistake he had committed towards her. The love he had felt for her back in Hogwarts was just as real and painful as it had been but now he was finally acknowledging it for what it was and apparently so was she. They held on to each other for what seemed like an eternity before Ginny pulled away and began straightening out his suit with a distant look on her face. He watched her for a moment before speaking.

"I love you."

Ginny closed her eyes as more tears left stains on her pale cheeks.

"Harry, please-"

He grabbed her hands and forced her to look at him.

"Ginny," he hissed and her lips pursed into thin lines. "I love you."

She shifted restlessly in his grip, wanting so much to kiss him like she had during the Christmas before everything had gone to hell. She could see the love in his eyes that he had just attested to and it scared her to know that this was the last time she would be able to act upon those volatile feelings. She leaned in and their lips almost touched before she stopped herself and took a deep breath, her eyes stinging from the tears. To kiss him would tarnish everything he had worked so hard to gain with Mariel and Ginny was not willing to ruin such a beautiful thing, no matter how much she wanted to. Reaching up, she turned his head slightly and pressed her lips against his cheek, leaving no doubt in his mind about how she felt. A gasp escaped her lips when his hands encircled her waist, pulling her into another hug. She took a step back and another deep, calming breath before she motioned to the door.

"The future Mrs. Harry Potter is waiting," she whispered. "You should go."

He nodded and smiled, following her out the door to the front of the apartment. She gathered up her coat and purse before she linked her arm with his and rested her head on his shoulder. They disapparated together, reappearing in a tiny old church Harry had shown her earlier that day. They hurried out of the rain and found Mariel waiting in the small foyer, chewing on her lip and wearing a gorgeous white dress. Her eyes brightened at the sight of the two and she hurried over to Harry, pulling him into a hug as she held tightly to Ginny's hand.

"You made it," she whispered and he grinned.

"I wouldn't miss this," he replied. Mariel smiled and turned to Ginny, nothing but gratitude in her brown eyes.

"Thank you so much, Ginny."

"Thank you for letting me be a part of this," Ginny replied.

"Are you ready?"

They all turned to see a man as old as the church they were in, hunched over by the chapel doors with a woman who seemed to be his wife standing beside him, a warm smile on her aged face. Mariel glanced over at Harry, searching for any hesitation or doubt but to her relief there was none. She nodded.

"Yes… I think we're ready…"

The pastor and his wife smiled and disappeared back into the sanctuary. Harry and Mariel were about to follow when Ginny bit her lip.

"Harry, wait," she whispered. Harry saw the look in her eyes and glanced over at Mariel.

"I'll be a minute," he told her and Mariel nodded, going into the sanctuary as well. He turned back to Ginny but before he could ask her what was wrong, she hugged him again.

"I love you, Harry," she whispered into his neck. "I always will." He nodded and she pulled away, pressing her lips to his temple quickly before motioning to the doors. "Now, go get married."

Harry smiled, kissed her cheek and walked into the chapel. Ginny trailed behind, sitting in the second pew from the alter as Harry joined Mariel with the pastor. The man's wife was sitting at an ancient organ, shakily playing the Wedding March. After a nod from her husband, the music stopped and the man began the ceremony, but Ginny didn't even hear a word. All she could think about was the first time she had met Harry Potter and how her life had been altered drastically by that encounter. She remembered Valentine's Day and the hurt she had felt when learning about Cho Chang. Her mind brought up Quiddich practices and his final battle with Voldemort and in all that time, she had never felt so much love for him as she did right now.

He was finally moving on with his life and she knew she needed to as well. Harry had come to her as a way to do so and now she needed to do the same if she were to ever move forward in her relationship with Jason. She needed to acknowledge the role Draco Malfoy played in her life and express that with her fiancé… and she needed to apologize.

Ginny was brought back to reality when she heard the words 'you may now kiss the bride' and she smiled when Harry and Mariel shared a loving kiss. She got to her feet and hugged them both, congratulating them and sincerely wishing them the best.

"Take care of him," she told Mariel.

Brimming with euphoria, the brunette nodded eagerly as Harry held on to her with a look of pure happiness on his face.

"Oh I will," she replied. "We'll see each other again soon, right?"

Ginny exchanged a quick glance with Harry before she nodded as well.

"We will, most definitely."

After a few more words with Harry, she kissed him goodbye and disapparated back to London. The moment she reached her apartment, exhaustion overtook her and she wanted nothing more than to fall into bed. But when she entered the flat, Reilly woke up from the couch and waved.

"Hey, love, what are you doing out here?" Ginny asked, sitting down on the couch as well. Reilly hugged her mother before resting her head on Ginny's lap and yawning.

"I wanted to see you when you came in," she mumbled. "Where did you go?"

Ginny bit her lip and ran her hands through her daughter's growing hair as the girl began to fall back to sleep.

"I was visiting a friend."

"Oh…" she murmured sleepily. "Draco came by…"

Ginny frowned.

"When?"

"A few hours ago… he was looking for you…"

"Did he say why?"

Reilly shook her head, shifting into a more comfortable position.

"He just came and left… Rayne's spending the night at his place… he wouldn't let me come…"

"Oh," was all Ginny could offer as her child drifted off into deep dreams.

Draco had been by… why the hell would he-

_Stop it Ginny_, she suddenly scolded herself, looking down at Reilly. _You just had one of the most amazing days of your life. Do not ruin it by thinking about Draco Malfoy._ She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, leaning back comfortably into the couch as she stroked her daughter's hair idly._ Just fall asleep and dream of new beginnings… don't think of Malfoy or the countless things you need to do…_

_Just dream of Berlin…_

**A/N: I know the last chapter was a bit of a surprise, but I don't want everyone to think of it as a way of getting rid of a character. It's a way to bring two people back together after a really long silence, as you can see in the chapter you just read. I hope you liked it.**

**The Darkest wizard:** At first, I wasn't going to do it this way, but then it wouldn't have made sense for Harry to really come and talk to Ginny.

**DMLoVeR11:** Thanks. I hope you liked this chapter as well!

**MaeSilverpaws1:** If I'm able, I'll definitely try to finish it, but it might take me a while because of everything else that is happening on my end. But I will try!

**VampireGirl1990:** A lot of the stuff with Harry was unexpected, but I hope you liked the chapter nonetheless.

**FreezingFire81:** He's not dying yet! He's got a few more months, perhaps another year, if he's determined to see his child for a while.

**purplegabby123:** I'm not completely sure how I'm going to handle the next chapter, (which will be the Christmas chapter). With all of those people at the Burrow, things are bound to get a little crazy. (Not crazy as in **Drift** crazy, but a little crazy). As for Jason and Draco, we'll deal with that soon as well. (maybe)…

**AngeliqueBlack:** I'm glad you liked it! Hopefully the next chapter will be as good…

**Chapter Tease: **

"_Um… Jason," she gasped, glancing over at Harry quickly before she moved over to her fiancée. "You decided to come… I didn't think you got my owl…"_

_Despite the standoffish stance he had suddenly taken upon seeing Draco, he nodded and answered her. _

"_Your mother sent me one as well," he said before he realized that there was someone else in the room. Jason's eyes immediately went up to Harry's scar and his eyes widened momentarily before he offered a smile. "Harry Potter, I assume."_

_Ginny jolted and went over to Harry, grabbing his hand. _

"_Harry, this is my fiancée, Jason Conwell," she introduced, glancing over at Draco, who still looked ready to release some profane remark on a moment's notice. "Um… Jason, this is Harry… Potter…"_


	23. O Come, O Come Noel

_A lovely thing about Christmas is that it's compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together._ **–Garrison Keillor**

* * *

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Reilly proclaimed that snowy morning, waking up the other two occupants of the large apartment. Ginny could hear Rayne scream from beneath a pillow and smiled as she pushed back the sheets and slowly got out of bed. She stopped in front of the mirror to check her hair before she walked out of the room to find her daughter in the living room hugging two boys her age; all three of them were in their pajamas.

"What's going on in here?" she asked. "How did you two get over?"

Charlie glanced over at Reilly before answering.

"Reilly's Gran let us come over through the Floo, Ms. Weasley," he replied, smiling. "Merry Christmas."

Despite her reservations about the mental stability of Landon Greyback, Ginny could tell how happy the appearance of both her friends was making her daughter and she could not help but smile.

"Okay, I'll make breakfast," she said and all three of them grinned from ear to ear. Alarmed by this reaction she pointed to them. "Behave."

Reilly nodded, a mockingly stern look on her face.

"Oh, of course, mum," she responded quickly, giggling when Landon mimicked her. Ginny shook her head and walked into the kitchen, leaving the three to their chatter.

"After breakfast, do you want to head back to the Burrow?" Reilly asked, sitting down on the couch besides Landon while Charlie stood by the small tree Ginny had managed to set up by the fireplace. The two boys exchanged looks and grinned.

"We found some cool tracks near the woods at the Burrow," Charlie told her. "Do you still have that book Hagrid gave you about the different types of creature tracks?"

Reilly nodded and motioned for them to follow her to her room. As they moved down the hall, Rayne came out of her room with a small owl perched on her shoulder and a letter in her hand. When she noticed the three eleven year olds in their night clothes she frowned and gave them a look.

"You three better not put anything in my room," she warned before she continued down the hall, reading her letter. Reilly rolled her eyes and they all went into her bedroom. Charlie and Landon planted themselves on her bed, eyeing a couple of posters on the wall while she began digging around for the book Charlie had mentioned.

"How do you think Faigan spends his Christmas?" Landon asked after a moment and Charlie laughed.

"Do toads celebrate Christmas?"

* * *

Ginny looked up from the pan when she heard laughter escape from down the hall just as Rayne entered the kitchen.

"What was that?" Ginny asked and the young woman shrugged, finally putting down her letter. Rayne shrugged, running a finger down the chest of the little bird on her shoulder.

"Those three are always doing something," she replied.

"Is that owl from Nicholas?"

Rayne's cheeks reddened and she held up the letter.

"He wanted to see me today to give me my gift," she said and Ginny smiled.

"Why don't you invite him over to the Burrow for the dinner? If he doesn't have plans with his parents already?"

Rayne snorted.

"His parents sent me a message a few days ago saying very clearly that if I had any intention of getting my Mudblood hands on any of that _sizable_ fortune that Nicholas is to inherit, then I need to find the hole I climbed out of and jump back into it," she told the woman. "Nick has no intention of spending Christmas with them."

Ginny's eyes widened.

"They actually said that?"

Rayne shook her head.

"No. What they said had several words I needed a dictionary to decipher and now that I know the meaning of them, I have no intention of repeating them to you," she responded with a shrug. "I don't mind. Looking back, I think an unpleasant letter from the in-laws is better thing to get on Christmas."

The meaning of her words caused Ginny to shiver and bit her lip. She took a deep breath to get those images out of her head and then returned to making breakfast.

"I suppose it isn't."

Rayne knew her comment had bothered Ginny, but wasn't about to let it ruin the rest of the day. She got up from her seat, greatly disturbing the owl on her shoulder, and walked over to where Ginny stood.

"Here, let me help. If we get breakfast done soon, perhaps the terrors in the back won't burn the house down by noon."

Ginny was silent for a moment, watching Rayne move around before she decided to ask the question that had been on her mind for a while.

"Are you and Nicholas serious?" she asked.

This time the bird had had enough and flew over to the perch where Ginny's owl was already preening itself and hooted. Rayne bit her lip and stood up straighter, turning to the older woman.

"What?"

Ginny shrugged and turned to the pan on the stove.

"Just a question."

Rayne raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you ask?"

"I suppose because you and Nicholas are starting to remind me of-"

"You and Draco?" Rayne finished before snorting. "Yeah right. Draco and Nick are nothing alike, trust me." She smiled. "Nick isn't as… _physical_ as Draco."

Bright flushes graced the faces of both of them and Ginny tried to smile.

"Thank God for that," she muttered, causing Rayne to laugh.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm positive that he would like nothing better than to lock us up in a room for a whole day and have at it," she said, oblivious to the surprised look Ginny gave her. "But I'd really like to wait for the right moment before I get involved in something so…"

"Intimate," Ginny completed, catching Rayne's eyes. Her ears reddened and she coughed, concerned that she was able to remember so well how her time with Draco had affected her. The first time she and Draco had made love began to creep back into her conscience and she shook her head quickly, trying to get rid of it. "Never mind," she muttered. A recognizable smirk appeared on Rayne's face and Ginny's eyes grew. She hit the girl playfully in the arm as she moved to the other side of the kitchen, shaking her head. "Stop it, Rayne."

"I didn't say anything."

"Yes, but I could tell what you were thinking and I want you to stop before Reilly comes back in here."

"Why? What would I have to say if Reilly came back in here?" Rayne asked knowingly and Ginny gave her a look, all the while trying to stop the smile from coming to her face.

"Stop it, Rayne."

Rayne knew exactly what was going on through Ginny's mind and smiled at the thought. Though she absolutely abhorred the thought of Ginny and Draco getting back together, she enjoyed teasing the both of them about their relationship and was amused when they began to think about certain aspects of their previous life. It only gave her more leverage and more entertainment.

"I'll be seeing Draco later. Should I send him your regards?"

"Rayne stop it!"

Rayne burst out laughing as they continued to make breakfast.

* * *

"Oh Ginny, there you are. Great, you can help," Molly Weasley exclaimed when Ginny entered the kitchen of the Burrow the Saturday after Harry's wedding. Hermione, Fleur, Alicia and Angelina were also in the kitchen helping the matriarch sort through decorations and menus.

"Happy Christmas, mum," Ginny greeted, giving her mother a kiss on the cheek. "How are you?"

"I think the better question is how you are," Angelina cut in, looking up from the tinsel in her hands. Ginny moved over to where the women were standing and frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

They all glanced over at Hermione quickly before Alicia spoke up.

"Hermione told us about your fight with Jason," she said. "And Reilly said you disappeared for a while a coupled of days ago and left her alone."

Ginny paled a little and she began shifting through some of the boxes absentmindedly, a determined look on her face.

"First of all, Jason and I are not fighting," she whispered. Hermione bit her lip but said nothing. "We're having some issues but we're going to be fine. As for my disappearance…" Her mind flashed to the small church in Berlin, a smile coming to her face at the thought of Mariel and Harry. "I was… occupied with something."

Every woman except Mrs. Weasley caught the smile on her face and leaned in.

"Who?" Fleur asked curiously but before they could get anything out of her, Fred and George bounded through the door, carrying five squealing little girls in their arms and on their backs. Angelina frowned and moved over to Fred, pulling one of her daughters off of the man's back.

"What were you doing out there?" she asked Fred. "They're soaking wet."

Alicia looked alarmed and immediately moved over to where her three daughters were, clinging to their father and giggling. She touched their hair and hit George in the arm.

"We're going over to my parents this afternoon, George and they're wet," she scolded, picking up the youngest, Jolie. "Come on, you lot. Let's get you dry."

Angelina and Alicia trooped the little girls up the stairs while Fleur went to go look for her children, hoping that the same fate had not fallen on them. Fred and George, not the least bit moved by their wives, just grinned and crowded around their sister.

"We heard you disappeared, little sister," Fred quipped.

"No one could find you," George added and Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Is everyone talking about me?"

Fred shook his head and kissed her cheek.

"Not everyone. Just us."

"Oh that's comforting," she muttered, pulling herself away from them and going to the back door where she could see the rest of her family outside playing in the snow. "Where's Ron?"

Hermione smiled and it was obvious that she had been waiting for someone to ask her this question for a long time.

"He's gone to get Harry."

Ginny raised an eyebrow and tried to look surprised while her brothers and mother crowded around her best friend.

"Harry's here? When did he come in?"

Hermione shook her head.

"I don't know. He just sent us an owl saying that he would be coming in this weekend and that he wanted to Ron before he came over."

Mrs. Weasley looked absolutely ecstatic at that point and she began moving around the kitchen at lightening speed, placing pans on the stove and flicking her wand towards the food.

"He's coming over tonight?" Fred asked excitedly and Hermione nodded, watching Ginny carefully. The lack of emotion on the woman's face concerned her and she frowned.

"Are you okay, Ginny? You don't look to happy about this?"

Noticing that they were all looking at her, Ginny blushed and smiled.

"Of course I'm happy. I was just thinking about… Jason," she muttered before leaving the kitchen. Fred and George exchanged glances and grinned.

"I don't think Jason's the only man on her mind anymore," George commented and Mrs. Weasley hit him across the head.

"You two know better than to bring that up," she snapped. "Her and Harry are just friends." Even as she said this it was easy to see the excitement in her eyes. They all knew how much she cared about Harry Potter and how much she had wanted him and her daughter to get together. Mrs. Weasley loved Jason, but Harry was…. Harry…

* * *

"Hey mum," Reilly greeted from her seat on the makeshift pitch as she watched several of her cousins race around above on brooms. Ginny smiled and sat down beside her daughter, looking around.

"Where are Charlie and Landon?"

"I don't know."

Ginny turned to look at her daughter, frowning when she saw the upset look in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked, reaching out and pushing Reilly's hat up a little. "Are you okay?" Reilly shrugged and Ginny tilted her head. "Are you worried about Landon?"

"A little."

At this response, Ginny's mind immediately identified the confusion in the girl's eyes and bit her lip.

"Is this about Malfoy?"

"Draco," Reilly snapped and Ginny sighed.

"Reilly," she started but her daughter stood up and stopped her.

"Why doesn't he like me?" she demanded quickly and Ginny closed her eyes. She had hoped rather than believed that her daughter would not take Draco's cold detachment as personally as he did her existence.

"Reilly calm down," she begged, pulling the girl down beside her. "Reilly, I told you before school started that your relationship with Draco would not be easy. It's not because he doesn't like you. He does… it's just…"

"I'm his sister," Reilly muttered bitterly, hot tears coming to her eyes. Ginny pulled her into a hug, holding her tightly.

"Don't cry, love," she whispered. "Especially not for Draco. He's not worth it."

Reilly pulled away from her mother and frowned.

"Why do you hate him so much?"

Ginny's eyes grew wide for a moment before she quickly shook her head and stood up, motioning for Reilly to stand with her.

"I don't hate him," she whispered. Her daughter gave her an unbelieving look and Ginny sighed. "Reilly, I don't hate him… I just…" Sighing, she began to walk back to the house, stopping only for her daughter to catch up. "It's complicated."

"That's what every adult says when they're talking either talking about death or sex," Reilly snapped angrily and Ginny turned to her.

"Who told you that?"

"Draco," she responded determinedly and Ginny rolled her eyes in exasperation. It seemed that even when he wasn't there, he was undermining her.

"Well, it is complicated and it has nothing to do with sex or death. It's just complicated," she clarified. When she saw that Reilly looked unconvinced, she sighed and looked up at the sky. "Reilly, what do you want from me? I thought you liked Jason? Why are you so interested in Draco?"

Reilly's face twisted in a funny manner and she shrugged.

"I do like Jason… I just want Draco to like me… that's all."

Ginny sighed.

"Reilly, love," she whispered, cupping her daughter's face in her hands. "I would do anything to tell you that that was possible but I can't… I told you from the beginning that he wasn't a good person, despite what he did for me… don't you ever believe for a moment that Draco Malfoy is a good person… he'll only end up disappointing you."

Reilly was about to respond heatedly when Charlie came running up, eyes bright and cheeks flushed.

* * *

Rayne was smiling as she walked down the streets with Draco and her four uncles. They had spent some time in a restaurant and were now traversing the sidewalk leisurely. She listened to them discuss several subjects, none of them she would be allowed to hear if Ginny had been around. Not that she minded. After eleven years of separation, she was glad to be around them again. The only thing she did not appreciate was the cold, intimidating stares they were giving every boy who happened to pass by.

"Are you still seeing that Kane prick?" Rockwell asked after a while and Rayne blushed.

"He's not a prick," she replied from her spot beside Goyle. "And yes, I am still seeing him." She caught the look shared between the men and rolled her eyes. "We are not shagging, not that it's any of your business."

"It's not," Draco growled as he walked ahead of the rest. Rayne frowned.

"What's wrong with you?"

Blaise snorted.

"He's just upset that he hasn't figured out where Weasley went the day we picked you up," he explained, earning him a withering glare from the Hogwarts professor. "It's true."

"I don't know where she went. She just said she'd be gone the whole day and no one could find her," Rayne said, hoping to calm her guardian's irritation.

"Stop spreading rumors, Zabini," Draco snapped as they entered Diagon Alley. Several people on the street stopped to stare at the lone redhead girl amongst the known murderers that were her closest family. Ignoring the looks, Rayne hurried over to Draco and took his arm, offering a smile.

"Why are you so pissed?" she asked. "She's here now. Actually, I think she's at the Burrow."

"Rayne?"

Rayne glanced behind her and grinned as Nicholas made his way over to her. He stopped in his tracks when his eyes met with Malfoy and his body seemed to fill with a quick burst of fear which he somehow managed to override by remaining perfectly still. Biting her lip, Rayne glanced over at Draco and walked over to him.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked, leaning in to kiss his cheek but he pulled away a little, still watching the five intimidating men standing right behind her.

"Um…" he hesitated, running a hand through his hair. "Did I interrupt something or-"

Rayne, amused by her boyfriend's fear, shook her head and kissed his cheek anyway. Despite their cold gazes, she could tell that they were enjoying Nicholas' discomfort and clearly wanted to make him squirm.

"We weren't doing anything important," she told him before she noticed the bags in his hand and lifted an eyebrow. "Are you shopping?"

He looked down at the bag and blushed.

"Um… yeah… I was…"

"That's from a lingerie store, Kane," Goyle pointed out coolly, pointing to the scandalous logo on one of the bags. Instantly the blood drained from the seventh year's face while Rayne's eyes widened.

"Lingerie store?" she asked quickly, snatching the bag out of her boyfriend's hand and pulling out the skimpy Christmas knickers. He tried to grab them from her but Valance grabbed the underwear and held them out so that bystanders could see as well.

"Wait, that's not for you!" Nicholas protested but he was not about to go up against her uncles. Rayne's eyes narrowed but before she could say anything, Malfoy stepped in front of her so that he and Nicholas were face to face.

"Who are they for?" he asked with a look that clearly expressed a low tolerance for lies. Nicholas, sheet white at this point, pointed behind him just as Catherine Attingwood appeared at his side, grinning. Despite the cold, she was wearing a short white skirt and fur-rimmed black coat with thigh high leather black boots.

"Oh there you are Kane," she said lightly, grabbing up all but one bag from his hand and stuffing a bottle of expensive wine into one of them. "Dumb prick at the register mistook my gesture to service him in the broom closet as an invitation to recite Shakespeare's sonnets. Got this bottle dirt cheap, though." She caught sight of Goyle and her smile broadened as she held up the lingerie bag and the other one with the wine in it. "The things I do for you."

Malfoy wrinkled his nose in disgust and lifted up the skimpy panties in his hand.

"That's perfect," he muttered, handing back the underwear to the woman. Color had returned to Kane's face while Rayne bit her lip.

"You were holding underwear for her?"

The young man shrugged, glancing over at Catherine, who had made her way over to the object of her affection.

"I didn't know what was in the bags," he muttered, holding up the one bag he still had. "This one is for you."

Rayne glanced over at Malfoy before she grabbed Kane's hand and led him away.

"Will I see you at the Burrow later, Draco?" she asked over her shoulder.

Rockwell snorted and moved off with Valance and Zabini in the opposite direction.

"If the info is right and Potter's coming back, Malfoy isn't the only one who you're going to see at that dump."

* * *

A couple of hours later had found the entire Weasley family, minus George and Alicia, at the dinner table, enjoying the fruits of Molly Weasley's labor. Ron had yet to arrive with Harry, which greatly perturbed Hermione who was now glaring at the man's empty seat. Everyone else was just talking excitedly how the rest of the Christmas Day was going to be spent. Presents had yet to be unwrapped and more guests, according to Mr. Weasley, would be arriving after dinner. Rayne had arrived an hour earlier with her boyfriend, Nicholas Kane, which had bothered Ginny a little because of the absence of Draco, but she remained silent on the subject. So far she had artfully managed to avoid any conversation having anything to do with her former two lovers and her currently missing fiancée and she was not about to bring up the blonde if she did not have to.

Unfortunately, Fleur, who had been watching her carefully since the morning's conversation, decided that the brief and unusual lull in conversation to touch upon the topic once more.

"Was Draco Malfoy still coming over, Molly?" she asked smoothly, eyeing Ginny's reddening face with scrutiny. Others raised their eyes from their plates, interests peaked. Ginny actually began coughing a little on her food before she straightened up in her seat and turned to her mother.

"You invited Malfoy?" she demanded rudely while Reilly just became excited.

"He's coming?"

Everyone instantly saw Ginny's concern with Reilly's excitement but said nothing as Mrs. Weasley responded.

"Yes, I invited him. Do you have a problem with that?"

"As a matter of fact I do," Ginny snapped while Mr. Weasley released a sigh of resignation. This was a conversation he had hoped they would not have during Christmas dinner. "He's my ex-husband, first of all," Ginny added grimly.

"He is still part of this family," Mrs. Weasley defended, receiving some looks from some of her other offspring.

"He is?" Bill managed to say without sounding surprised by his mother's statement.

Molly looked appalled.

"Am I the only one who remembers that he saved your life?" she asked Ginny and her daughter's blush only deepened. "Besides, I heard about how you acted towards him at St. Mungos and I believe your behavior was highly inappropriate, Ginny."

"Inappropriate? _Inappropriate?!_" she hissed. "Since when has my behavior compared to _Draco's_ been deemed inappropriate?"

Molly's eyes narrowed.

"It's Christmas, Ginerva," she replied heatedly through gritted teeth. "He's had the good graces to help you this year and I would suggest you take this as an opportunity to _thank him_ for it."

Ginny's eyes narrowed as well, producing a striking and frightening resemblance to her equally irritated mother. Fred looked ready to interrupt, however a quick warning look from Angelina silenced him. Others tried to look as invisible as possible so as not to be dragged into the row. Reilly was the only one who seemed bothered by the entire conversation.

"It's Christmas. He's not exactly the first person I would invite over for Christmas," Ginny muttered irately.

"Then who is?"

Everyone turned and gasped.

"Harry!" Hermione squealed, leaping out of her seat before anyone else could process the fact that Harry Potter was standing at the door with Ron near by. "Oh Harry!" She pulled him into a bone-crunching hug as she began babbling on about how much she had missed him. "Remus had said you would be coming, but I wasn't so sure seeing as you had not come the last time and then when Ron said he was going to pick you up, I assumed he would be back sooner." At this point, she proceeded to hit Ron in the arm, shooting him a dark look. "What took you so long to get him here?"

Before Ron or Harry could answer, Mrs. Weasley mowed her way through, shoving Hermione out of the way in her attempt to embrace Harry. Ginny smiled as others got up from their seats at the table to greet Harry and exchange long thought out words with him. However, the entire time he was with them, his green eyes kept flickering over to Ginny, who remained at her seat with a knowing smile on her face.

Suddenly, she felt alive and excited. For the first time in the longest time, she shared a secret with Harry Potter and even now, she knew it was precious. Her heart pounded madly against her chest at the thought and she had to take a quick breath to keep her mind focused so as not to blurt it out in a bout of exhilaration. Taking another inhale for good measure, she quietly waited for Mr. Weasley to usher Harry into a seat beside him, right across from Ginny. A wink from Harry was enough to throw Ginny back into her schoolgirl days at Hogwarts and it took everything within her power not to squeal like she used to whenever Harry showed up. Instead, she just sat there and continued to eat her food, silently listening to Ron as he excitedly told them about his adventure in picking Harry up at the station. When there was no mention of Mariel, however, Ginny finally decided to speak up.

"Did you come alone, Harry?" she asked so quietly that at first no one heard her. Biting her lip, she coughed a little and straightened up in her seat. "Did you come alone, Harry?" she repeated and everyone else fell silent.

Of course it was to be expected that they would be anticipating some dark, passionate words to be spewing from her mouth with fire and brimstone. For Ginny to calmly sit there and ask him such a simple question was slightly disconcerting and even Fred leaned forward to eye her.

"Are you okay?" he asked and she shot him a warning look.

"I'm perfectly sane, thank you," she snapped before returning to Harry with a warm smile upon her face. "Did you come alone, Harry?"

Ron snorted.

"I didn't bring anyone else with me, did I Ginny?" he asked and she sighed.

"I noticed," she responded, keeping her eyes on Harry. "I was just curious is all. It's been a while."

To her enjoyment, uncomfortable looks were shared between her family, but Harry, who had been anticipating her remarks, just shrugged.

"She'll be coming later," he said, attracting more attention.

"Who's coming?" Fred asked curiously while Angelina and Hermione eyed Ginny suspiciously. A contented smile came to Harry's face as he sat back in his chair.

"You'll see when she gets here."

They all exchanged glances.

"She?"

**A/N: I know, I didn't put the chapter tease in and a lot of you were looking forward to that, but the chapter was getting a bit long and I decided that I wanted to make Christmas last a bit longer than was originally planned, especially since Christmas is coming up in a couple of weeks or so. (Three weeks I think????) O well. I'll try to get that chapter out to you a bit sooner, please be patient. Next week is my final week of classes before the break and then I have a few weeks off, so I'll try to get some major updating down in that time. Thanks!**

**Jenny:** Don't worry about it! I'm just glad to hear from you again! Draco, admittedly, is my favorite too, and with Christmas, people might start getting a little nostalgic (in the best and worst senses). I might stretch the Christmas scenes out a bit longer than usual and try (keyword being "try") to make them a bit more light-hearted than in Drift. As for the love square, yeah, I'm loving that too. As for Greyback, I'm not too sure if I want to bring him in during Christmas or not… we'll see… As for _Jason_, I think they're a bit on the outs (as you can tell), but let's not jump to Draco having Ginny just yet. She's still not comfortable with Draco being around her family. The Harry-Hermione-Ron thing will be resolved (partially) in the next chapter or so. I'm glad you like it and hope to hear from you soon!

**Dracoginnylover24:** Thanks for reading it and look forward to hearing from you again!

**DMLoVeR11:** Thanks!

**Tamara72:** In the beginning I wasn't really going to have Harry go to Ginny, but then I thought it would be interesting to have Harry come to her after all those years of absence with something important to talk to her about. Something that told her that he really does value her because let's be honest, at Hogwarts, Harry left Ginny out of _a lot_ of things. I think he's trying to make up for that now. As for Ron and Hermione, I think (at least for the marriage thing) that they'll understand. They know (for the most part) why he kept away from Ginny, so I think they'll understand why he came to her first. You are wonderful! I would have completely forgotten about the whole Tonks/Remus thing if you hadn't mentioned it. Thank you so much! I'll try to bring them in the next chapter. I think I wrote Draco to well because despite the fact that he is _the worst_ person to be with, everyone wants Ginny to be with him instead of Jason. It's funny.

**FreezingFire81:** Thank you for loving it!

**.imagine:** That's a side no one's mentioned before. What if Ginny decides not to go with anyone? (I'm not sure if I'll go with it, but it's very interesting).

**MaeSilverpaws1:** I think that was the point of having Ginny at his wedding. So he could deal with past regrets and move on. I really think he's happy now.

**AngeliqueBlack:** I'll try to update as quickly as possible!

**MeggyandHaku:** I'll try to incorporate more of Reilly into the next chapter. But it might be jumping around a lot. Christmas is just one day and I have a lot of characters to visit.

**Qwerzxc:** Yes, I remember! About Harry, I knew a lot of people didn't like his coming back because they might have thought I would try to do something between him and Ginny, but that's not the reason I'm killing him. I personally thought Harry should have died in the seventh book, so this is sort of a "natural progression" thing for me. As for Draco and Reilly, we'll go into more of that in the next chapter as well. (I think we're going to be going through a lot of things in the next chapter)

**Purplegabby123:** Yeah, she can think about him, but I'm not sure whether or not her thoughts about him are good.


	24. A Chapter of Many Faces

_Most couples have not had hundreds of arguments; they've had the same argument hundreds of times._ **–Gay Hendricks**

* * *

The moment dinner was over, Harry managed to slip away into the kitchen to catch his breath while everyone else moved to the living room so that the kids could begin opening presents. Hermione, despite her eagerness to talk to Harry, noticed that Ginny had followed the man to the kitchen and decided against interrupting what she believed to be their first conversation in over three years.

When Ginny entered the kitchen, it took a moment for her to realize that Harry was actually there. He was standing by the door, staring out into the snow-covered backyard, slightly pale with his forehead glistening with sweat. Biting her lip, Ginny conjured up a towel and walked over to where he stood, handing it over.

"Mum or Dad sees you like that and they'll automatically get suspicious," she whispered helpfully. When their eyes met, her heart warmed at the smile on his face and she could not help but lean in and embrace him, resting her head on his chest as his arms encircled her immediately. "Feel better?"

He chuckled and pulled away from her.

"I think I'll feel better once this whole thing is said and done with," he muttered, wiping his face with the towel she had given him.

"They're really happy to see you," she told him. Her eyes filled with tears and she took a sudden intake of air. "I'm really happy to see you."

Harry noticed her eyes and sighed, taking her face in his hands and wiping away the tears with his thumbs.

"Damn it, Gin," he whispered. "Someone sees you crying and they'll start asking questions."

Ginny took his wrists in her hands and closed her eyes briefly.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "You're right." After another deep breath, she took a step away and leaned against the door, watching him closely. "So… where is she?"

The moment the question left Ginny's lips, she could not help but grin at the goofy look that came over Harry's face. He glanced over at the door leading into the rest of the house quickly before he responded.

"She's with Dumbledore," he told her and Ginny laughed.

"Seriously? Oh Harry, he must be so happy for you."

The man nodded, smiling as well.

"She fell in love with him and wanted to hear all he had to say about me. They've been talking for hours and I decided to leave them be," he told her. "Dumbledore will drop her off in a little bit."

Ginny bit her lip.

"Mum is going to be so upset with you when she finds out you hid this from her. Hermione too," she added and Harry's face paled a little at the thought of the two very powerful women.

"Thank you, Ginny, for reminding me that my death might in fact be coming sooner than it already is," he muttered and Ginny glanced out the door window.

"I know a way to make you feel better," she offered and his eyes widened at the implication. Realizing how she must have sounded she swiftly shook her head and placed a hand on his arm. "I didn't mean it like that, Harry," she corrected, blushing furiously and her heart beating wildly. "I just meant that we could go out and take a walk around in the snow. Like we used to…"

Harry smiled and nodded, whispering, "That would be nice," before he reached out and pushed some of her hair out of her face. A funny sensation flooded Ginny briefly before she gained control over her emotions and looked down at her hands, a faint smile on her face.

"I can't wait for you to meet Jason," she muttered.

Harry was about to respond when a knock on the door scared the both of them. They took a step away from it and peered through the frosted glass to see Draco Malfoy standing there, a smirk on his face.

"_Malfoy_?" Harry muttered, his eyes darkening immediately. His entire body went still and the warmth from the kitchen quickly disappeared, leaving a tense rigidness that only increased Ginny's awareness of the situation. Her heart sunk at the loss of his playful mood and quickly opened the door, letting the blonde in.

"I'm surprised you decided to show up," she greeted coolly but Draco ignored her completely, his eyes focused on the one man he was sworn to loathe till the day he died.

"Potter," he acknowledged with an unusually pleasant tone. "I would have thought that you would be spending solitude in Germany this Christmas."

"I decided against it," Harry replied, his voice indicating his mutual distaste. "What are you doing here?"

"Mum invited him," Ginny answered, pointing towards the door with a clearly expressed 'get lost' look on her face. "You can go say hello."

"And leave you two alone?" Draco responded, eyeing the two carefully before his smirk widened. "What exactly are you two doing in here by yourselves?"

"Talking," Harry hissed and suddenly Ginny felt like a schoolgirl in Hogwarts, watching the two argue over Quiddich and whether or not Dumbledore had lost his mind. Everything about the way the two men were glaring at each other was all too familiar and for some sick reason, Ginny was not in a hurry to end it.

"Obviously civility was something you didn't learn while over in Germany, Potter," Draco observed, his eyes glinting with a devilish glee when Harry took a step towards him.

"Why don't you sod off, Malfoy," Harry growled. "Before Moody shows up and decides to turn you back into a ferret for old times' sake."

Draco's eyes darkened momentarily at the memory, but instead of backing down from the threat he just shrugged, examining his nails idly.

"A friend of mine informed me that fresh bouquets of flowers were placed over a couple of graves at Godric's Hollow," he commented, noticing Harry's eyes narrow dangerously. "I was wondering if Cedric Diggory got the same lilies?"

Harry lunged at Draco.

"Son of a bi-"

"I was pretty sure she was in here… oh!" Mr. Weasley froze in his steps with Jason right beside him. When he realized what was going on and saw the sudden look of fear on Ginny's face, the patriarch pointed behind him and slowly began to back out of the kitchen. He loved his daughter greatly, but had absolutely no interest in getting involved in such a volatile situation. "I… have… to… go… check on… something…" With that, he disappeared, leaving Ginny alone with the three men.

It was as if God was playing a cruel joke and the punch line was her love life. Or perhaps someone just did not like her. Probably her mother's idea, the moment she found out about Harry. A way of punishing her… This could not be a reward.

For a moment everything was silent as Ginny's mind began to thaw out and she realized she needed to say something before Draco, who was smirking nearby, decided to take advantage of her momentary paralysis and say something that would further antagonize both Harry and Jason. Harry already looked murderous.

"Um… Jason," she gasped, glancing over at Harry quickly before she moved over to her fiancée. "You decided to come… I didn't think you got my owl…"

Despite the standoffish stance he had suddenly taken upon seeing Draco, he nodded and answered her.

"Your mother sent me one as well," he said frostily before he realized that there was someone else in the room. Jason's eyes immediately went up to Harry's scar and his eyes widened momentarily before he offered a smile. "Harry Potter, I assume."

Ginny jolted and went over to Harry, grabbing his hand.

"Harry, this is my…" For some reason she hesitated before finishing the statement. "Fiancée, Jason Conwell," she introduced, glancing over at Draco, who still looked ready to release some profane remark on a moment's notice. "Um… Jason, this is Harry… Potter…"

All three men could see how much panicked Ginny was about this situation. It was hard enough for her to deal with Jason and Draco at one time, but adding Harry to the mix was a bit too much for her and it was beginning to show. She was fumbling over herself as she tried to determinedly make introductions. Her face was starting to match the color of her hair and in a few moments she would probably use all use of her vocal chords.

"You were invited to Christmas at the Burrow as well?" Jason asked in a friendly tone, even though his eyes kept flickering over towards Draco, who finally decided to speak.

"If only Dean Thomas and that Michael bloke showed up," he said, leaning against the counter. "Then this would be a party."

Both Jason and Harry looked ready to hex the man into next year when Hermione, flushed and wide-eyed, came bounding into the kitchen. Mr. Weasley had told them all about Jason's arrival and knowing full well that Draco would be showing up any time soon, she wanted to come in to save Ginny from the embarrassment of having to deal with the three men at the same time. Unfortunately she was too late for that debacle.

"Oh," she gasped before she quickly righted herself and assessed the situation hastily. Ginny looked ready to crack and Hermione decided to interject on her behalf. "Harry! There you are," she said without missing a beat. "Mum wants to speak with you." Her eyes flashed to Draco and she sighed. "You too. I'm sure she's going to want to know that you're here," she added, giving a look that clearly said she would hurt the man if he did not leave the kitchen. While Draco highly doubted that she could cause him bodily harm, he followed her and Harry out of the kitchen, leaving the couple alone. For a moment, both remained quiet, unsure of how to go about this whole situation. Ginny could see that Draco's presence, like before, had annoyed him greatly. Steeling herself up, she took a step towards Jason and began to speak.

"I wanted to talk to you-"

"Look Gin-"

Jason's eyes widened and he motioned towards her.

"Sorry," he muttered. "You first."

Ginny hesitated and looked down at her hand.

"Um… I…" She took a deep breath and tried to smile. "Well… this isn't exactly how I imagined this going." Jason's eyes darkened and she bit her lip, unsure of how to go about this entire situation. "Look, Jason, I… I'm sorry…"

Jason raised an eyebrow and leaned against the counter, interested in hearing the rest of her statement.

"For what?" he asked quietly and she moved over to him.

"For what happened a couple of weeks ago. I'm sorry for everything getting out of hand."

"You never answered my question, Ginerva," he said, still looking put out. "What am I supposed to do about that?"

Ginny flinched at the use of her name, but steeled herself up for what she was about to say. She had to be honest with him. Harry had been with her. Now it was her turn.

"You were right," she whispered.

Jason frowned and stood up straighter.

"I was right?"

Ginny swallowed stiffly before she pointed to the backdoor.

"Can we talk about this outside?" she asked urgently. If she was going to tell him what was on her heart, she didn't need other people overhearing. Especially Draco. Jason nodded silently and they slipped out, waiting until the door was closed before continuing with the conversation.

"Ginny, what-"

"I still love Draco," she blurted out before she bit down on the inside of her cheek and waited for the yelling to commence. When none such thing happened, she looked up to see the expected shock on Jason's face. Her stomach flipped with nervousness and she quickly decided to explain herself before he recovered from her first statement and curse her into oblivion. "And I still love Harry too." She took a deep breath and moved to a snow covered tree nearby. "It's selfish of me and I know that, but I can't help how I feel about them, Jason. I mean, Harry saved my life so many times and… he was the first person I ever really loved and I can't help but still love him… and Draco…" Here her face flushed significantly but she lifted her chin and plowed through her confession as swiftly as possible. "Well, it's complicated, but… he saved me and… I love him for that…" Jason was about to say something but she lifted up her hand to stop him. "Wait… there's something you need to understand though…."

"Is there?" Jason asked and she nodded quickly.

"Um… I love Harry and Draco… but… I'm not _in_ love with them anymore," she whispered, moving over to stand right in front of him. She took his hand in hers and held it tightly. "I don't want them to hold me when I'm crying. I don't want them to snog me like you do. I don't want them to be Reilly's father and love her like I want you to. I don't want them to make love to me, Jason… I just want you… I'm in love with you…"

Jason stared at her for a moment before he looked down at their clasped hands and sighed.

"And what if you decide that you don't want to be in love with me anymore… like you decided with them?" he asked quietly.

Ginny's eyes watered quickly and she took a step back from him.

"Jason," she whispered. "What is that supposed to mean?"

He shook his head while his eyes began darken.

"It means how long am I going to have to wait until I become just like Harry and Malfoy?" he responded heatedly. While his questions were pointedly irate, it seemed to Ginny that he was more frustrated with himself than her. "Ginny… Ginny, I… I understand your relationships with both of them and… despite my distaste for Malfoy, I respect that he's a necessary place in your life, but…" He took a deep breath and looked her deep in the eyes. "Ginny, I don't want to be another one of your regrets…"

Tears began flowing down Ginny's face and before Jason could make a move to wipe them away she pulled him into a quick kiss before she took a couple of steps back.

"Jason, I want this so desperately to work," she whispered. "Which is why I tried to be honest with you from the beginning… I… I don't want this to end the same way Harry did and I most _definitely_ do not want this to end the same way Draco did… I want to marry you and have more children and grow old with you," she cried. "I just-"

"There you two are!" Mrs. Weasley announced when she opened the backdoor. "It's Christmas, you two! George and Alicia have arrived with the girls. Tonks and Moody should be here any moment! Hurry now."

Ginny nodded and offered something close to a smile.

"Okay mum. We'll be in soon."

Mrs. Weasley grinned and disappeared back in the house, oblivious to the tension between the couple. Jason released a sigh and headed for the house but Ginny stopped him.

"Jason wait…"

"What?" he asked, looking down at her.

She bit her lip and tilted her head to the side.

"You, Harry and Draco have been good to me," she whispered as she moved to stand in front of him. "But out of the three, you're the only one who hasn't abandoned me yet…" Ginny shook her head. "I don't want you to be another regret either."

They stared at each other for a moment before Jason nodded slowly and leaned in, brushing his lips against her temple. He then pointed to the door.

"We should get inside before your mother begins to worry," he muttered. Ginny reached out and touched his face.

"Are we okay?" she asked softly and he took a deep breath. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he wanted nothing more than to say yes, but she knew too well that this was not so easy. He took a deep breath and motioned to the door again.

"We'll see…"

* * *

"He's hiding something," Hermione whispered as she slid comfortably into Ron's arms as he stood in the corner of the living room.

"I know," he replied, his eyes watching Harry carefully as he spoke with Mr. Weasley on the other side of the room.

"Do you think it's serious?"

Ron stiffened and looked down at his wife, eyes searching.

"Do _you_ think it's serious?" he asked and she shrugged, leaning further into his chest.

"I don't know. He seemed very friendly with Ginny during dinner," she replied right before a realization fell upon the both of them and they looked at each other. "You don't think…"

Ron frowned.

"Didn't you say that she and Jason got into a fight over Malfoy?"

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Ginny gets into a fight with everyone over Draco," she responded, her eyes moving to where the silver-eyed man stood, speaking quietly with Rayne. Ron looked concerned.

"Yeah, but I haven't seen her smile at Harry like that since…" He tried to think about it for a moment before he groaned. "Blimey, I haven't seen her smile like that since we were second years, oh bloody hell."

Hermione placed a hand on his arm, shushing him before others picked up on the false conclusion.

"Ron, don't say that. For all we know, Ginny could just be trying to be polite," she whispered quickly. At this statement, Ron snorted derisively.

"Polite?" he repeated. "Hermione, I expect Ginny to be polite when it comes to Malfoy," he muttered, pointing to the man. "I have _never_ expected her to be polite when it came to Harry these days. You said the last time you brought him up she got all quiet."

Hermione bit her lip and tried to think. Ginny's response to Harry had been curious indeed, but what had really sparked her interest was that Harry did not seem to be afraid of the woman anymore, as was proved when she walked in on them in the kitchen. There had to be a reason for such a civil encounter.

"Do you think it has anything to do with that woman Harry mentioned?" she asked quietly.

"The woman Remus told us about?"

A bright excitement flooded Hermione's eyes and she turned to face Ron completely, a smile on her face.

"Perhaps he brought her along?" she said excitedly and Ron began to move towards Harry's position.

"Let's ask him."

Hermione's eyes widened and she grabbed Ron before he could continue.

"Ron, no," she hissed, pulling him back into the corner. Fred noticed the rather aggressive action and immediately came to the wrong conclusion.

"You two not spending enough _quality_ time together?" he asked loudly, drawing attention to the couple. Ron was about to say something when Hermione seized the moment and took his face in her hands, bringing his lips down to hers. Sara, their daughter, instantly began to squeal, displaying her displeasure in seeing her parents show such affection towards each other. Others just clapped and grinned, remembering times when this sort of interaction was impossible. When Hermione pulled away, she leaned into Ron's ear so that only he could hear.

"Let's let Harry be for now," she whispered. "He'll tell us in his own time."

Ron nodded and kissed her neck before he moved away from her and picked up his daughter, kissing her cheek.

"Just you wait. In another ten years you won't think that's so ghastly," he said.

Harry walked over to the two, a contented smile on his face.

"I forgot how much I missed this place," he muttered and Hermione grinned, pulling him into a hug.

"Well, then you should come back more often."

"I agree," Ginny said when she entered the room with Jason close behind her. Her fiancé shot Draco a very pointed glare before walking over to Harry and shaking the man's hand again. Hermione noticed the slight distance between Jason and Ginny and could tell that the two had not resolved their issues completely.

"Sorry. Our introduction earlier was a bit off. It's nice to finally meet you," Jason greeted and Harry smiled.

"That's okay. Malfoy tends to bring out the worst in all of us sometimes," he responded.

"I try, Potter," Draco called from across the room. Ginny sighed.

"Be nice you two," she scolded. "He's still a part of this family."

Jason and Harry snorted at the same time and Ginny could instantly tell that the two liked each other, which bothered her a little. As much as she did not appreciate his presence here, she did not need the two most important people in her life ganging up on the other important person in her life in front of Reilly. The girl was already receiving enough mixed signals as it was.

During her little phase out, Ginny had missed the entire conversation and had not realized that Hermione was now the only one standing beside her.

"Where did they go?" she asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Quiddich," she replied, looking slightly put out that Ron had taken Sara with him. "I can't go anywhere with those two without that bloody word being brought up."

Ginny smiled and was about to respond when the fire glowed and Tonks stumbled out, followed closely by Moody.

"Happy Christmas all!" she greeted, giving them all hugs before coming over to where Hermione and Ginny stood, looking around curiously. "I heard Harry was around. Is he still here?"

Ginny motioned to where the men had disappeared into the other room.

"Quiddich," she explained and Tonks sighed, having no interest in joining that conversation.

"Oh… is Remus here?" she asked, biting her lip. Hermione and Ginny exchanged quick glances before Hermione shook her head.

"Not yet. I think he's coming soon though," she told the woman, understanding the apprehension in the woman's eyes. "Have you two talked at all since he's come back?"

Tonk's eyes glazed over momentarily and for a second she looked as if she were about to start crying, but then she swallowed and blinked, shaking her head swiftly.

"Um… no, no," she responded quickly. "I haven't seen him since that Head Girl was killed back at Hogwarts."

"Really?" Hermione gasped. She knew that Remus had distant with Tonks, but to avoid her for such a long time without saying a word to her was inexcusable. "I don't understand why he would be so rude-"

Tonks shook her head again, worry now filling her eyes.

"No, no, it's okay. I talked to Moody and Dumbledore and they told me that he's been extremely busy since then. I… _completely_ understand and I don't mind that he hasn't come to see me. It's not like I'm waiting around the fireplace like some lovesick puppy," she muttered before coughing and standing up straighter. "Um… where are the drinks? I think I could use a firewhiskey."

Hermione and Ginny exchanged an alarmed look and Hermione followed the pink haired woman to the other room to keep an eye on her. Ginny looked around and noticed that someone was missing.

* * *

Harry stepped out of the house, closing his eyes as the cold, crisp air hit his pale face and caused him to shiver a little. He had hoped he would be able to control the frequent pain that visited his body, but after a while he excused himself from the company of his friends and slipped out. Now, he just wanted Mariel to arrive.

"Alright there, Potter?"

His heart sunk at the sound of Draco Malfoy's voice and he turned slowly to see the man leaning against the house with a cigarette in between his lips. Taking a quick drag, Draco removed the white stick and puffed out three rings, closing his eyes as a snow fell on his face.

"You smoke?" Harry asked, genuinely surprised by this discovery. For all of the horrible and dark things he knew of the man, bad habits was not something he expected of such a perfectly manicured Malfoy. Despite the fact that he had managed to kill most of them, Draco still upheld the Malfoy name with the respect and nobility fitting such a position. The blonde laughed at the question and dropped the rest of it on the floor, watching as the glow slowly went out before turning his head slightly to Harry, placing a finger to his lips.

"Shhh, it's a secret," he whispered with mock urgency. His eyes then moved back to watching the snow fall in the back of the house. "We wouldn't want the rest of that lot knowing that on top of all of my nasty deeds that I happen to smoke too."

Harry raised an eyebrow at the comment but said nothing about it. Now he wished he had not come out.

"Whatever," he muttered, folding his arms over his chest. Draco's eyes were drawn back to Harry and he examined the man's face for a moment before smirking.

"I suppose I'm not the only one who picked something up in my absence," he commented.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Harry replied before he turned to go back inside.

Draco stood up straighter, watching Harry with more interest than was previously displayed.

"I've seen that look on your face enough times to know what's going on, Potter," he said coolly.

Harry paused at the door, fully aware that Draco would be willing to march into the house right now and tell them all that something was wrong with him and without Mariel there, he was not too sure he was okay with that.

"Why don't you mind your own bloody business, Malfoy," he growled and Draco snorted.

"Yes, because I've been so good at that."

"Sod off."

Draco sighed and moved over to where Harry stood, eyes facing forward.

"I'll just be inside then," he whispered. "Expressing my _extreme_ concern with how pale you've been looking tonight. I'm sure the matriarch of that massive redheaded clan would be interested in what you have to say."

Harry's eyes clouded over with a pain Draco recognized and for some reason, a glint of respect for the man passed through him for a moment before he crushed it and moved back to his spot by the house, waiting for the man with the scar to respond. It took a moment before Harry backed away from the door and sat down heavily into one of the chairs still outside.

"Do you even have a soul, Malfoy?" he asked quietly and Draco snorted.

"Once. Then I met you and it shriveled up and died," he replied with a grimace, sitting down as well and looking down at his snow-covered boots. "How long?"

Harry glanced over at him.

"Why? Thinking of finishing me off yourself?"

"Oh, that is tempting," he said sincerely, a smirk appearing on his face. "But I would prefer to see you on your deathbed. It would be _so_ much more enjoyable."

Harry's eyes hardened.

"I hope I live to see you die first."

Draco's eyes darkened at the statement and he shifted in his seat.

"You just might," he muttered so that Harry could not hear. Harry saw the look in the blonde man's eyes and frowned. Since when did him and Draco start having 'moments'?

"I think I'm going to go inside now," Harry mumbled, standing up.

"You never told me what was going on, Potter," Draco called lazily from his seat. "I was hoping that the natural progression after Weasley, would be to confide in me."

"Weasley?"

Draco turned in his chair.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I suppose you only know her as Ginny. I actually prefer to keep things professional."

"I think you should mind-"

Standing up as well, Draco turned and faced Harry, eyes filled with irritation.

"Potter, if I wanted to know what you thought, I'd probably hang myself," he snapped. "I'm just curious as to why, after three years of absence, you would choose now to reconnect with the currently unmarried Ms. Weasley."

"My relationship with Ginny is none of your damned business," Harry hissed right before a wave of pain shot through his stomach, bringing a sheet of sweat across his paling face. Draco noticed the change instantly and smirked.

"No… I suppose it isn't… but your death is."

Harry immediately turned to Draco, eyes narrowing.

"Shut it, Malfoy," he growled threateningly, but Draco seemed to want to go down a different path.

"There are so many things I could accomplish when the news of your death hits the fan," he continued.

"Stop it."

"I could write a book-"

Harry grabbed Malfoy up by the front of his clothes and slammed him against the side of the house, eyes blazing.

"What do you want from me, you little prick?" Harry snarled and Draco's face became extremely serious. He leaned in so that their noses were nearly touching, eyes darkening again.

"Despite what those around here might think about me, I'm completely heartless," he said. "I'm willing to do you a favor."

Harry raised an eyebrow, still holding on tightly to the man.

"Since I'm dying, I'd rather just kill you now and get it out of my system," he responded hatefully and Draco snorted.

"I'm sure Mrs. Weasley wouldn't appreciate you killing me on Christmas."

"What the hell do you want?"

Draco shoved Harry away from him and fixed his clothes properly, straightening up arrogantly.

"All I want is a couple files that only you can obtain," he explained.

"In exchange for?"

Silver eyes met green.

"What's going to happen to your wife and child when you're gone, Potter?"

Harry's eyes widened and he took a step away from the man.

"How do you know-"

"I have… _acquaintances_ in Berlin, Potter," he responded.

Unable to understand the meaning of Draco's words, Harry shifted around in the snow. It was completely out of character for the Malfoy to be so… passive. In a case like this, when such an explosive secret had been discovered by the man, the entire world would know by now. For Draco to be willing to discuss the matter was disturbing.

"Have you gone off your rocker?"

Draco ignored the question and looked out towards the woods.

"No."

"Then why the hell are you trying to help me?"

Shifting around, Draco tilted his head to the side, looking over Harry's face.

"I'm not the only one Greyback's after, Potter," he muttered and Harry's eyes widened at the insinuation. "And I had a feeling that if I asked nicely, you would give me what I wanted as well."

Before Harry could reply, the backdoor opened and Ginny came out.

"Draco, where…. Oh… there you are… with Harry…" she added with confusion. She hesitated and then shifted around on her feet. "What… what's going on?"

Harry glanced over at Draco before he motioned inside.

"I was just going back inside. Did you need something?"

Ginny's face reddened and she glanced over at Draco.

"Actually, Harry, I need to speak to Draco," she whispered.

Straightening up, Harry's eyes moved over to the blonde quickly before he nodded slowly and walked over to the door.

"Oh."

Ginny grabbed his arm gently and kissed his cheek, offering him a warm smile.

"Find me if she arrives," she murmured into his ear and he nodded again before going inside. Biting her lip, she turned to Draco who was watching her with interest. Blushing furiously, she shifted uncomfortably. "Um…"

Draco leaned against the house again, eyebrow's raised.

"Well?"

She pointed behind her to where Harry had disappeared.

"What was that about?"

Smirking, Draco approached her with an air of mock secrecy.

"Well, actually, we were snogging like mad, but don't tell anyone. Wouldn't want people to get the wrong idea about Potter," he told her and Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, can't you ever just answer a question?"

Draco snorted.

"According to Conwell, you're having some trouble answering some questions."

Ginny's eyes grew to the size of saucers and she backed away from him a little.

"You heard that?"

Satisfied with the amount of fear in her eyes, Draco shook his head and sat back in his original seat.

"No, but I'm curious as to what the conversation was about."

"Oh go to hell," she hissed and he looked over at her.

"What did you come out here for anyway?" he asked. She was about to reply with an obscene comment but then she remembered the real reason why she had come out and decided against it.

"Um… well… actually, I came out here to…" She took a deep breath and tried to force the words out without throwing up. "I came out here to… apol…. Apol… _apologize_."

Draco actually had to stand after she said that, eyes wide with surprise. Those were not words he had expected to come from her beautiful, pink lips.

"Sorry?"

Taking another deep breath, Ginny ran her hands through her hair and she looked him in the eyes.

"I… I'm sorry."

Smirking, Draco leaned in.

"That must have been hard to say."

Ginny rolled her eyes and sighed.

"You have no bloody idea."

"How did it feel?"

Ginny glared up at him.

"Like killing puppies," she replied bitterly and he snorted, moving away from her.

"The mutts are easier to kill," he said. "It's those damned purebreds that just won't die."

Ginny bit her lip at the innuendo but before she could say something, a crack startled her and they turned to see Remus standing by the backdoor. When the older man noticed that the divorced couple was outside alone, he frowned and stood up a bit straighter.

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked curiously, causing Ginny to blush furiously despite the cold weather.

"No," she snapped, pointing to the door. "Harry's inside. So is Tonks." At this Remus paled and was about to pull away from the door when Ginny's eyes narrowed. "And I suggest you talk to her before Hermione or Mrs. Weasley decide you're not worth the trouble you've put that woman through."

Remus glanced over at Draco, who just shrugged and smirked. Not wanting to get into an argument with the Malfoy right before he would have to deal with Tonks, Remus just nodded silently and disappeared into the house. Ginny contemplated following him but before she could get her legs to work, Draco leaned over her shoulder so that his lips grazed her ear.

"What were you apologizing for?" he asked in such a way that she shivered and pulled away swiftly, not wanting to be sucked into him by his allurement.

"My mother says I was rude to you at the hospital. I came to apologize for that."

Draco raised an amused eyebrow.

"Funny. I thought you were apologizing at your flat, right before your fiancé interrupted us," he replied and her heart skipped a beat right before her eyes darkened.

"I take back what I said," she hissed, pointing a finger in his face. "You're an arse and apparently it's a permanent condition."

"Is that your opinion or Conwell's?"

"What the hell does he have to do with this?"

Draco shrugged.

"I'd just hate for Christmas to be ruined because of a little miscommunication. I need to know who to be directing my deranged anger at so that I can overcompensate for the fact that I haven't yet gotten over my feelings for a certain person."

"I am not deranged and I am most _definitely_ not overcompensating for _any_ feelings that I have for you," Ginny shot back heatedly and he raised an eyebrow.

"So you do have feelings for me," he said and her eyes widened momentarily before she marched over to where he stood, glaring right up at him.

"You're not the center of life, Draco," she hissed. "I think you need to remember that."

Draco leaned in so that their faces were almost touching, a smirk moving up his face but not quite reaching his eyes.

"Just the center of yours," he replied knowingly. "That's why you and Conwell are currently placing the Great Wall of China between you whenever you're in the same room together."

Ginny's eyes flickered down to his lips briefly before she gained control of herself and backed away, shaking her head.

"Jason and I are fine," she snapped. "So I think you should stay out of it."

"Why does everyone here expect me to mind my own business in a place where the only thing more interesting than Potter is you?" Draco asked and Ginny hesitated.

"You think I'm interesting?" she asked quietly and his face broke out into a massive grin, his eyes finding hers.

"No. But now I know that you care," he replied.

* * *

Tonks had just entered the kitchen when the door opened and Remus stepped in, shrugging snow off of his coat. Biting her lip, she waited until he noticed her and then tried to smile as a look of fear passed over his face.

"Remus," she whispered in some sad attempt of greeting. He continued to stare at her with the inability to use his voice and she shifted a little. "Happy Christmas."

Remus blinked several times before he coughed and offered her a slight wave.

"Tonks," he replied cautiously. His eyes moved over her briefly and then stood up straighter. "You… um… you look well…"

Tonks frowned and looked down at the drink in her hand. For a moment she was about to return to statement but then anger boiled up in her and she took a deep breath.

"I have no interest in exchanging pleasantries with you, _Lupin_," she snapped, setting down her glass. She pointed out the kitchen. "Harry's in the living room. Moody and Arthur are in the dining room. I'm sure they would love to see you."

Remus' eyes widened at the woman's sudden change in emotions.

"Tonks…" He stopped when her eyes narrowed. "Um… Is everything alright?"

Even after everything that had happened between them in previous years, she would have thought it would be obvious what was disturbing her about his presence. Why was it that he refused to acknowledge her?

Sighing, Tonks turned away from him and began shifting through the cabinets, finding an unopened bottle of firewhiskey. It was a nasty thing she had picked up after Remus had left and she hated herself for allowing him to witness her small addiction, but she refused to face him with the images of their last encounter whirling around in her mind. Remus watched in surprise as Tonks poured the amber liquid into the glass tumbler and raised it to her lips. She took a couple of gulps before returning to look at him, her eyes glazing over slightly.

"Why are you still here?" she asked rudely and Remus glanced over at the door, wondering that himself.

"I… um…" He motioned to the door. "I think it would best if I left and if you… didn't have anything more to drink."

He had almost made it to the door when Tonks slammed her glass down on the counter and glared at him.

"I understand why Harry left," she snapped. "I really do. But you, Remus… I actually expected more from you."

"I don't know what-"

"Damn it, Remus, don't patronize me!" Tonks hissed angrily, moving over so that their faces were a hairsbreadth apart. Her finger was pressing aggressively against his chest as her eyes blazed with anger. "Do you honestly think that what you did was fair?"

"Nymphadora-"

Her hand connected with his face and he stumbled away from her, eyes wide and lips parted. She pointed at him, her chest moving up and down urgently.

"Don't you dare call me that," she growled, tears coming to her eyes. "I woke up and you were gone. No note. Nothing! I didn't even know where you'd gone until _Ron Weasley_ told me the next day!"

"It was the day of full moon, Nym-"

She hit him in the face again before she grabbed her glass and moved towards the door leading to the family room.

"Come up with something original next time," she hissed over her shoulder.

* * *

Ron noticed Jason standing by the window and moved over to where he was.

"Rather watch snow fall than converse?" he asked jokingly but Jason did not respond. Frowning, he glanced out the window as well and saw his sister and Draco Malfoy speaking in the snow. The couple seemed to be arguing because Ginny was pointing at him while Draco was just smirking like normal. Ron glanced over at Jason again and then pointed towards the door. "I'm sure there are a couple of firewhiskeys down there that have our names on them."

Jason blinked several times before turning away from the window.

"Um… what?"

Ron snorted.

"You okay?"

Realizing what he had been doing, Jason tried to smile as he motioned to the door.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he replied quickly. "Let's go get those firewhiskeys."

Ron raised an eyebrow at Jason's sudden change in demeanor but did not comment on it.

"Okay."

They had almost made it down the stairs when Jason stopped suddenly, a strange look on his face.

"Can I ask you something, Ron?" he asked quietly and Ron hesitated.

"About?"

"Malfoy."

Ron groaned inwardly. While he liked Jason very much and wanted nothing more than for the man to marry his sister, Draco Malfoy was one subject Ron was hesitant to discuss. That was mostly because his feelings about the blonde were very ambiguous.

"What about Malfoy?" Ron asked slowly and Jason turned to him.

"Do you trust him?"

Eleven years ago, Ron would have bellowed out an adamant and heart-felt 'no'. But then again, eleven years ago, his sister hadn't fallen in love with Draco Malfoy. Saying no now seemed somewhat hypocritical.

"I suppose it depends," he finally answered and Jason frowned.

"Depends?"

Ron nodded and leaned against the wall.

"Yeah… I mean… by no means would I trust Malfoy with any information. I wouldn't trust him with my life or Hermione's, despite the fact that he saved her."

"But?

Sighing, Ron motioned down the stairs.

"Look Jason," he started. "Don't misunderstand me. I wish to heaven and hell that Ginny had never gotten involved with that man. But…" He took another deep breath. "In all honesty, Jason, despite what he is, I wouldn't trust the lives of Ginny and Rayne to anyone else more than I do him."

Jason frowned at that statement.

"Why?" he asked, trying not to show too much displeasure in that particular answer. "He's-"

"A lying, conceited, murdering bastard."

The two men looked down the stairs to see Harry at the bottom, holding a butterbeer in his hand.

"In the greatest sense of course," Harry added with a smile.

Ron frowned at how pale he was but before he could comment on it, Jason interrupted.

"Then why the hell do you trust him?" he demanded somewhat heatedly and Harry exchanged a glance with Ron before shrugging.

"Because… he did something none of us would have ever been able to do," he responded.

"And what is that?"

Ron placed a hand on Jason's shoulder.

"He saved Ginny's life."

Jason frowned.

"I don't understand-"

"If it had been you in Malfoy's place… do you honestly think you would have been able to just sit there… and watch what happened to Ginny eleven years ago? Do you think you would have been able to sit there for three days and just watch without saying a word?" Ron asked quietly. His chest constricted with the memories of that Christmas and he looked down at his hands, struggling to keep his emotions in check. "Malfoy saved her life. We would have killed her."

Jason's eyes clouded over for a moment before he shifted and moved passed the two men silently, his mind bombarded with the words they had just said. Ron and Harry watched him leave before turning to each other. Harry offered up a cynical smile.

"Ah, the joys of being in love with Ginerva Molly Weasley."

"Ron! Harry! Dumbledore is here with a guest!"

Ron and Harry walked down the stairs into the living room where Dumbledore was standing with Mariel Potter, who was beaming despite the fact that absolutely no one there knew who she was. The moment she spotted Harry, her eyes brightened with the utmost love.

"Oh Harry, there you are!" she called, hurrying over to him and wrapping her arms around his neck. "London is _amazing_. I cannot believe you haven't been back in such a long time." She then motioned to Dumbledore. "Albus told me all about how you and Ron stole a car and _flew_ to Hogwarts from Kings Cross."

"Ahem," Mrs. Weasley interrupted, looking thoroughly put out that she did not know the woman currently clinging to Harry. "Have I missed something?"

Harry glanced over at Dumbledore before he placed a hand on the small of Mariel's back and turned so that they could all see her.

"Um… everyone… this is Mariel. Mariel, this is my family."

Hermione came at this introduction and tilted her head to the side.

"Is this the woman you were talking about during dinner, Harry?" she asked, stepping up beside Ron. Fred and George could be seen in the background inching around towards the back of the couple while Bill and Charlie moved closer to see the woman clearer.

Harry nodded, his heart beating faster when his eyes met with Mariel's. She moved over to Mrs. Weasley and held out her hand.

"Hello, Mrs. Weasley," she greeted. "It's wonderful to finally meet you."

Hermione frowned.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get your last name."

Mariel and Harry exchanged glances before Harry stood up straighter and smiled.

"Um… Mariel Potter…"

Fred and George tripped over themselves and came crashing to the ground, mouths gaping and eyes as wide as saucers. Everyone else just stared at Harry like he had screamed out an obscene world.

"I'm sorry, did you just say Mariel Potter? As in-"

Harry nodded.

"Mariel and I are married."

* * *

"Not that it's any of my business-"

"It's not," Ginny snapped on her way into the house.

"But why is it that your fiancé sees me as such a threat?" Draco continued to ask, ignoring her comment. Ginny stopped at the door and looked at him.

"Excuse me?"

Draco shrugged and began walking out into the snowy lands behind the Burrow. Ginny bit her lip and glanced inside before she followed after him.

"I'm curious as to why Conwell has such a deep-seeded hatred for me?"

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"He does not hate you and he most certainly does not see you as a threat," she hissed. "You're just reverting back to your old paranoid self."

Draco smirked.

"Oh, he is most definitely threatened by me. Otherwise why the hell would such a secure man call off a wedding?"

Ginny stumbled over herself and then stopped in the snow. He stopped as well and turned to see the shocked look on her face. It amused him that she was still surprised by his capabilities to read her.

"How-"

Draco looked up at the snowy dark sky, a knowing smile on his face.

"Ever since I came back, the fights between you and that prat inside have revolved around me," he said without a single hint of humility. He looked down at her and tilted his head to the side. "Why do you think that is?"

Ginny's eyes narrowed.

"We have _never_ fought over you and Jason is not threatened by you. He's just not comfortable with this situation."

Draco raised an eyebrow and approached her.

"Haven't you assured him that we are most definitely divorced?"

Ginny held her ground. She was not about to let him intimidate her into submitting.

"Yes."

He stepped right up to her so that their bodies were nearly touching and leaned into her face.

"And haven't you told him that your feelings for me no longer exist?"

"Yes."

His head cocked to the side a little in question and a familiar glint flickered in his eyes.

"Then why is it that he doesn't believe you?"

"Who would?"

The two turned to see someone approaching, cloaked and slowly moving through the snow. Ginny unconsciously moved closer to Draco, her fingers curling around his coat as her right hand found its way to her wand. Draco, on the other hand, did not seem bothered by the stranger's appearance. The person stopped a couple of meters away from them and pulled back the hood from her cloak, eyeing Draco with extreme interest.

"Who wouldn't be threatened if they saw Draco around their woman?"

Draco smirked.

"Emory Vince."

Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"A werewolf?" she asked softly, glancing behind her towards the house. It was then that she realized how close to the woods they happened to be standing.

Draco's smirk widened while the blonde woman's eyes began to burn with an obvious lust. It was a look Ginny recognized instantly. She had seen it in the eyes of many other women who caught sight of Draco Malfoy.

"Greyback's little bitch."

* * *

Charlie walked out from behind a tree and ran over to where Landon and Reilly stood, staring at some massive tracks on the ground.

"I just ripped my coat," he complained, turning a little to show them the hole where a thorn bush had caught him. Landon laughed while Reilly just moved over to him and looked at it closely before she pointed in the direction of the Burrow.

"We should go back anyway. My fingers are starting to freeze and I want some more dessert."

Landon hurried after them, looking around.

"I'm not cold."

Charlie snorted and looked over at him.

"I wonder why."

Reilly laughed as they continued through the woods. Back before Halloween, they would not have laughed about Landon's problem. In fact, Charlie would have avoided the topic and Reilly's eyes would have watered. But now, especially after the accident in November, they had accepted it as a part of their friendship and decided to make light of it, much like Remus had done back when he was in Hogwarts with James, Sirius and Peter.

"Do you think Professor Malfoy is here?" Landon asked, glancing over at Reilly, who bit her lip. Her eyes filled with anxiousness and she picked up her pace.

"Rayne said he might come over," she told them and Charlie frowned.

"I thought your mum said he was dangerous?"

Reilly rolled her eyes.

"My mum just said that because she doesn't like him anymore. Have you ever actually _seen_ him do anything evil?" she asked them pointedly and the two boys exchanged glances.

"Not _evil_, but he hasn't exactly been the best role model, Reilly," Charlie pointed out. "You heard about what he did to that one boy."

"I don't think it was true."

Landon sighed.

"What if your mum is right and Professor Malfoy is a bad person?"

Reilly looked determined to believe that Draco was a good person and refused to answer the question. She just moved a little faster.

"I think Grandmum said that Dumbledore would be coming over as well," she muttered, noticing the look Charlie and Landon shared. "That should be interesting, right?"

"Yeah, sure," Landon replied as they plodded through the snow, flushed and eager to get back inside. The clearing was just a few meters ahead when they voices coming from the left. Looking through the trees and brush, they caught sight of three people speaking at the edge of the woods. Reilly frowned when she noticed that two of them were people she recognized.

"Is that Professor Malfoy?" Charlie asked before Reilly heatedly shushed him and began to quietly make her way towards the small group of people, motioning for her two friends to follow after.

Landon and Charlie looked hesitant, not wanting to get into more trouble than they already were in. However, after a mean look from the girl, they reluctantly shifted through the snow after her, stopping behind some bushes where they had a pretty good view of the conversation.

"Who's that with your mum and Professor Malfoy?" Landon asked quietly from his spot between the two. Reilly shrugged. She had never seen the tall, blonde woman before and judging by the way her mother was glaring at the person, probably did not want to meet her.

"A werewolf?" Reilly's mother asked quietly, looking over her shoulder nervously. They saw the smile on Malfoy's face widen as the blonde woman took a step closer.

"Greyback's little bitch," he said and all three children flinched at the language. The woman smiled.

"You remember me," she said, eyeing Ginny briefly. "Again, Malfoy? Don't you think you should have learned your lesson the _second_ time?"

Reilly saw her mother pale significantly while Malfoy just continued to smirk as if finding the entire situation hilarious. From her place behind the bushes, it looked anything but.

"Do you have a reason for being at this dump?" Malfoy asked curiously while Ginny rolled her eyes but inched closer to the man nonetheless.

The blonde woman noticed the movement but said nothing about it.

"Greyback just wants to check up on you. The last time you two met, he tells me you weren't too civil."

Malfoy snorted.

"Well, we were talking about you."

Despite the comment, the woman looked aroused.

"Oh, Draco," she cooed. "Such words from such beautiful lips. You should watch your tongue."

"Or what?"

The woman's steely blue eyes moved to Ginny quickly and she shrugged.

"I think the two of you are well aware of what happens when you don't watch your tongues," she said. Reilly saw her mother blush furiously but was unsure of why.

"Do you need something, or are you just going to stand there and imagine Draco naked?" Ginny demanded suddenly as she shifted restlessly in the snow. The woman raised an eyebrow.

"Imagine? Red, I don't have to _imagine_ him naked. I've _seen_ him naked and that was _within_ the past eleven years," she replied, her eyes burning with the memory of those few very physical nights. She glanced over at Draco. "Besides. He knows I wasn't sent here to tell you anything."

Reilly and her friends exchanged glances right before a wolf cry startled them. They whirled around and saw glittering eyes staring right back at them with a two rows of long, white teeth shining with the untouched snow.

"Run," Landon muttered under his breath, his heart beating wildly and the voices in his head screeching at him to flee. When none of them moved, the massive beast began to move through the trees towards them. That was when the three noticed the other two further back.

"REILLY RUN!"

* * *

"Oh, Draco," she cooed. "Such words from such beautiful lips. You should watch your tongue."

"Or what?"

Emory's eyes moved to Ginny quickly and she shrugged.

"I think the two of you are well aware of what happens when you don't watch your tongues," she said. Ginny blushed violently at the innuendo and could feel Draco stiffen a little at the implication. Growing increasingly uncomfortable with this whole scenario, Ginny stood up a bit straighter and looked around.

"Do you need something, or are you just going to stand there and imagine Draco naked?" she demanded. Emory raised an eyebrow.

"Imagine? Red, I don't have to _imagine_ him naked. I've _seen_ him naked and that was _within_ the past eleven years," she replied, her eyes burning with the memory of those few very physical nights. She glanced over at Draco. "Besides. He knows I wasn't sent here to tell you anything."

Ginny frowned and was about to ask what that meant when something howled nearby and she turned to the woods to see three children huddled behind a few bushes several meters away. Just beyond them, further up the hill, were three large wolves, crouching in attack position.

"Oh my God," she gasped while Emory began to back away, noticing the darkening look in Draco's eyes when he caught sight of the creatures as well. "Reilly… move…" One of the wolves moved and Ginny regained her voice. "REILLY RUN!"

**A/N: A very long chapter filled many overlaps, but I hope you liked it. Trying to fit all of those conversations into one chapter was **_**sooooo**_** hard. And I still didn't get every conversation I wanted (ie. Reilly and Draco). Hopefully this was enlightening, and if not, just entertaining. I know some of you probably wanted a bit more of Tonks and Remus, and I'll try to get that to you, but as you can tell, there was a lot to fit into this chapter without making it ridiculously long so their interaction was brief, but informative. **

**Jenny:** Not so much Nick and Rayne in this one, but I hope you liked it nonetheless. We'll get back to the Harry thing in the next chapter or so.

**-Jeisa-:** I am very glad that you are now caught up. I'm glad you mentioned the whole name thing. Mariel's name was originally going to be Rebecca, but then I realized that there would have been three women in this story who's name started with "R" so I changed it. I must not have changed everything. Thanks!

**MaeSilverpaws1:** That was my favorite part of the whole chapter.

**purplegabby123:** I was thinking about making the part with Harry, Draco and Jason a bit more intense than it was, but then I realized that it was Christmas and decided to give Ginny a _little_ grace period. You can bet that she'll deal with the three of them again.

**Dracoginnylover24:** Draco definitely showed up, and once again things have gotten interesting.

**Hey:** I am still on the fence about whether or not I want them together. I mean, it's obvious that Ginny's very adamant about making things right with Jason, but I think Draco's a bit more open to the idea.

**AngeliqueBlack:** I'm glad you liked it! The whole Mariel thing is sort of my saving grace for this story. I look forward to writing her because then I know I have something happy to write about.

**No Chapter Tease. This chapter was too long for that.**


	25. Saint No More

_He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster_. -**Friedrich Nietzsche**

* * *

"_When are they coming over?"_

_Ginny rolled her eyes and continued fixing her hair while Draco sat on the couch in the big master bedroom, watching her curiously._

"_I told you, I haven't seen anyone since school let out and September is just a week away. I just want to have some human contact," she told him._

"_I'm not human?"_

_She glanced at him through the mirror and her eyes narrowed a little. _

"_I'm looking for something a little more real," she replied and he laughed, standing up and moving over beside her._

"_And I should be forced to suffer through this?"_

"_Yes."_

_Draco leaned in and kissed her neck, causing her to shiver before he turned and walked out of the room. _

"_Fine."_

_As he strolled the long, lonely halls of Malfoy Manor, something occurred to Draco that for some reason had not come to him before. Ginny would soon be entering into her ninth month, which meant his time to leave would be coming very soon. He stopped in the corridor and leaned against the wall, ignoring the portraits that watched him cautiously. He could hear them murmuring about him, but ignored it. They had no way of escaping the Manor, so he did not care what they saw and talked about. _

_Ginny though… she could talk… not that she would. While she had become accustomed to things in the Malfoy house over the summer, he had made it very clear that her stay would not be long and anything that happened within the confines of the tall, sculpted walls and heavy oak doors would remain there._

_But still… There was something about the idea of her leaving that bothered him. It was not the pathetic leech that currently resided within her, sucking life out of him with every month that it grew. No… he had resolved long ago that the thing would indeed grow up without having a Malfoy to call father. The thought of raising such a disgusting creature made his skin crawl. _

_Perhaps it was the sex that left him reluctant to go…_

_Before Draco could think of all the reasons why sex would be a reason for him to leave, the doorbell rang. By the time he made it to the staircase, one of the house elves had opened the door, letting in the Golden Trio. His lip curled a little at the ridiculous name, but he said nothing as he gracefully walked down the marble stairs, stopping just on top of the reddish stain left there by his poor, deceased mother, God rest her soul…_

_Ron and Harry remember how that stain had gotten there and paled slightly. The look on Draco's face had been anything but pleasant._

"_How nice of you to finally get here," Draco greeted with a smile on his face. Hermione looked up the stairs and frowned. _

"_Is Ginny here?" she asked with such hesitation that the smile on Draco's face became genuine as he led the way to the dining room._

"_She's still alive," he replied. Even after Draco had married Ginny, there were several who believed that he would eventually snap and try to kill the baby. Hermione, apparently, was one of them. _

"_That's not why I asked, Draco," she snapped and he shrugged._

"_You seemed worried."_

_For a few minutes, they all sat in an awkward silence while a couple of house elves came in and out, serving drinks. Hermione's eyes were constantly on them in disapproval but she said nothing about it. She had made her sentiments known about the house elves earlier in the summer when they had helped Ginny move in to the Manor. She was not about to do it again._

"_I'm here," Ginny announced as she walked, or waddled in Draco's opinion, into the dining room. To his displeasure, her stomach was still swollen. Her face was flushed and sweat glistened off of her brow, but he ignored it. That's how she looked most of the time these days. _

_Dinner started and soon Draco was completely ignored, not that he minded. He just sat there and listened to the rest of the Gryffindors discuss work, life and anything else that was uninteresting to him. Ginny seemed to be enjoying herself so he was not about to start complaining. _

_During dessert, however, she began acting strangely and for a while only Hermione noticed. She was continuously shifting in her seat and biting her lip. Her cheeks were still red and her ears were the same color as her hair. After a few more minutes of sitting there, Ginny excused herself to the kitchen to talk to the elves about something. Hermione did the same thing, telling them she just wanted to talk to Ginny about something. _

_When she arrived to the kitchen, Ginny was hunched over and clutching her stomach while her eyes were closed and breathing heavy. A couple of house elves were trying to offer her a seat and something cool to drink but she waved them off, insisting she was fine. _

"_Ginny, what's going on?"_

_The redhead's eyes bulged and she turned around quickly, which was not such a good idea because a gasp escaped her lips and she grabbed the counter, taking deep breaths before she managed to stand up straight._

"_Nothing, Hermione. I'm fine," she insisted but even then she touched her bulging stomach and flinched in pain. Hermione's eyes grew and her mouth dropped open as she began to point at Ginny._

"_Ginny… you're-"_

_Ginny walked over and grabbed her friend, trying to stop her before she finished the statement. _

"_Stop it," she hissed. "Don't say a word."_

_Hermione could not believe it._

"_Ginny," she whispered heatedly. "You're going into labor!"_

_The moment the words were said, the girl's eyes watered and she looked down at her stomach._

"_You can't say anything, Hermione," she begged. "Please, you can't."_

"_You need to get to St. Mungos," Hermione responded, motioning for a chair to be brought. When she got Ginny to sit down, she turned to leave, but Ginny would not let her go._

"_Hermione, please, don't!" she pleaded. "I'm fine!"_

_Hermione shook her head, her heart aching for her friend._

"_Ginny, you're not fine. That baby's coming and we need to get you to the hospital," she said, but even then she could see the desperation in Ginny's eyes. "You can't stop this…"_

_Shaking her head, Ginny winced again as the contractions began to come faster._

"_I can't… Hermione, I can't," she cried._

"_Ginny," Hermione said as she got up to leave. "You need to get help."_

"_Hermione, no!"_

"_What's going on in here?" Harry asked as he, Ron and Draco entered the kitchen. Ginny stood up instantly and tried to look like nothing was wrong._

"_I'm fine," she snapped, shooting a look at Hermione. "I'm fine."_

_Hermione shook her head. Despite her understanding of Ginny's fear, she could not allow her friend to stay here any longer while her body was telling her that it was time to deliver the baby._

"_Ginny's water broke and now she's going into labor," she blurted out and suddenly all eyes were on Draco Malfoy, who had froze and gone completely pale. Ginny's eyes filled with more tears and she tried to move towards him but his eyes hardened to steel and the room became cold._

"_Draco-"_

"_Sit down," he whispered in such a deadly calm voice that even Harry and Ron backed away from him a little, their hands moving towards their wands slowly. The look on the young man's face was unreadable, but they could all guess what was running through his mind. Ginny saw Draco pull out his wand and she tried to reach out to him._

"_Draco, please-"_

"_Sit down."_

_Ginny glanced over at Hermione._

"_Draco-"_

"_I said, _sit down_," Draco growled, his voice so cold and dangerous that Ginny did as she was told, tears falling down her face the entire time. Before anyone could say another word, Draco disapparated. Harry and Ron instantly went to Ginny's side, trying to figure out what was the best way to get her to St. Mungos while Hermione held on to the poor girl's hand. She could only imagine what Ginny was going through at this moment, knowing that the past few months had just ended._

_Surprisingly, Draco returned with two other people dressed in Healer robes._

"_Mrs. Malfoy, my name is Roland Meyers and this is Penelope Quince and we're going to be your Healers," the man explained as they helped Ginny to her feet. The woman turned to Draco._

"_Is there a large fireplace around here?" she asked and Draco nodded silently, ignoring the looks Ginny's family was giving him. He led the way to the living room and opened the jar containing Floo powder. _

"_Wait, you're going to Floo her to St. Mungos?" Hermione asked. "Is that safe?"_

_Healer Quince nodded. _

"_It's much safer than apparating or a Port Key, I can assure you," she answered and then turned to Ginny. "You're going to be fine."_

_Ginny looked around the room but Draco was no where to be found and before she could ask where he was, the Healers threw the powder down and announced their destination._

* * *

"It's been an hour, I really think we should go out there and find the children ourselves," Mr. Weasley snapped as he paced back and forth in the kitchen. The Weasley grandchildren had all gone upstairs while the rest of the Weasley clan stood in the kitchen with the others, all waiting impatiently inside. Dumbledore and Moody had left to inform the Ministry of Magic to inform them of the situation at the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley was making tea while Ginny stood by the back door, chewing on her lip. Upon hearing her father's words, she looked away from the window and frowned.

"Just a few more minutes, Dad," she whispered.

"You said that thirty minutes ago, Ginny," Bill hissed angrily, standing up from the table and moving over to his sister. "Why the hell are we still in here while your daughter and her friends are running around in the forest from some blonde bitch and her posse?!"

"I said a few more minutes," Ginny replied. "Draco said he'd take care of it."

Jason stood up from his seat, jerking a few other people to attention at the action. Several knew that his relationship with Ginny was currently on the rocks because of Draco's appearance here, but it had not been openly showcased.

"Why the hell did you listen to Malfoy in the first place?" he demanded irately. "From what I gathered, he's the reason that Vince lady got so close to Reilly and her friends!"

Ginny looked indignant and her eyes narrowed a little.

"This is not Draco's fault, Jason," she hissed. "It's Greyback's. The only reason I don't want any of you to go out there is because it's dangerous!"

"And Malfoy's equipped to handle those things while none of us are?"

Noticing that her family was watching them, Ginny stood up a bit straighter and turned back to the window.

"I'm not going to talk about this right now with you," she muttered. "We're going to wait."

This response only seemed to anger Jason and he walked over to her.

"Why aren't you worried about this?! Your daughter is out there!" he yelled and she rounded on him.

"Of course I'm worried!" she shot back. "I'm worried to death! But I trust Draco enough to wait here and let him get her!"

Jason's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"You trust Malfoy more than your family?!"

Ginny's eye widened at the implication and she looked around to see that the rest of her family seemed to be waiting on an answer to that question. She could see curiosity swimming in their eyes and a momentary wave of hate pulsed through her aimed directly at Jason.

How dare he question her loyalties?!

However, before she could get a word in on the subject, Hermione stood and pointed out the window.

"Look, there he is," she gasped before placing a hand to her lips. "I don't see Reilly or her friends, Ginny…"

Ginny returned to the door and looked out to see Draco walking up the hill with something in his hand. There was no one else there. Biting her lip, she grabbed her coat from off the counter and walked out, ignoring the protests she was given.

"Where is she?" Ginny demanded, plowing her way through the snow to get to the blonde man. Noticing her irritable state, Draco stopped and waited until she approached before he held up the ropes in his hand. Frowning, Ginny looked around him and gasped. "Oh my God…"

The three bloodied wolves Ginny had seen earlier were lying on the ground with ropes tied to their hind legs. The disturbing thing about it was that their bodies were misshapen, with parts showing pale skin and fingers while the other parts were hairy and grey. It was as if they had tried to transform when they were…

"What did you do to them?" she asked, placing a hand over her mouth to block the stench of blood. She could see the glistening crimson path Draco had taken from the woods and it only amplified the grotesque situation.

Draco snorted.

"Don't think to hard about it," he replied quietly before he pointed up to the Burrow. "I need to get them to the Ministry."

Ginny's eyes widened and she quickly shook her head, moving to stand right in front of him.

"Oh no, Draco. I don't think so," she hissed. "You are not going into that house with those things." She looked around and poked him in the chest. "Where's Reilly and her friend?!"

Draco shoved her hand away and began dragging the deceased up towards the house.

"Your _child_ and the two gits with her are safe upstairs, if the lot of you bothered to look," he told her. "Probably asleep from running around through the snow."

For a moment she just stared at him, trying to figure out something out before she jolted a little and pointed to the corpses behind him.

"First of all, where's that blonde bimbo, Em what's her face?" she demanded and a smirk came to his face.

"I knew I was forgetting something."

* * *

Jason was fuming by the door and so far no one knew what to say about it. As soon as Ginny started talking to Malfoy, his whole demeanor changed and they could tell he wanted nothing more than to walk out there, but something seemed to be holding him back.

Curiosity, most likely.

"Are they arguing?" he muttered in disbelief when Ginny began sticking her finger in Malfoy's face. Hermione stood beside him and bit her lip.

"It's hard to tell. Sometimes they look like their fighting when they're really about to…" Hermione's eyes widened when she realized what she was about to say and her cheeks reddened. Jason turned to look at her and she returned to looking out the window, trying her best to avoid his gaze. "I'm sure they're just arguing…"

Mariel was sitting in the corner watching the entire situation with some concern. Everyone around her seemed much to calm for such a dire situation and when she turned to Harry to find an answer and he did not look fazed as well. Biting her lip, she slipped out of the kitchen into the hall, bumping into Ron Weasley.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized, instinctively placing a hand on her belly as she moved out of his way. Ron noticed and frowned.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly. She smiled at him and nodded.

"Yes, thank you. I just needed to stretch my legs," she replied. "You're Ron, right? Harry's friend. He talks about you all the time."

Ron tried to smile but the shock of hearing that his best friend was married was still fresh in his memory and he could not help but wonder why Harry had not told him. Mariel noticed his hesitation and leaned against the wall.

"Harry… he wanted our marriage to be…"

"Inconspicuous?" Ron offered and she nodded slowly.

"Yes," she whispered, looking up at him. She could still see hints of betrayal in his eyes and she sighed. "Harry loves you… all of you." Tears filled her eyes and she laughed as she wiped them away. "When I first met him… all he would talk about was this place and the Weasleys and how all of you in some way had saved his life…" She took a deep breath and pointed towards the kitchen. "He's… he's dealing with a lot and… I know it seemed like he betrayed your friendship by not telling you, but honestly… it was so sudden that…" More tears came to her face and Ron could tell that something more was going on than just this marriage.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. She sniffed and looked up at him, a soft smile on her face. Reaching up she touched his face before she leaned in and kissed his cheek quickly.

"I know why Harry cares about you so much," she whispered. "You're a good person…"

"Mariel?"

The two turned when Harry entered the hall and found them. He hesitated a little when Ron looked at him and then turned to Mariel with nothing but the utmost concern in his green eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked and she nodded, moving over to him.

"I'm fine, love," she murmured, kissing him swiftly on the lips. "I was just talking with Ron." She looked between the men before she pointed to the door. "I'll be in the kitchen."

Harry waited until she was gone before he turned to Ron, unsure of what to say. He had seen the look on Ron's face when he had announced his marriage to Mariel. There had been shock at first, which had been expected. But then something else appeared that was less identifiable. Betrayal… happiness… confusion… Harry could not tell, but ever since then, Ron had been a quiet man and Hermione had been no different, though she refused to acknowledge it for the moment.

"I think she's still getting used to all of this," Harry whispered. "She's not accustomed to all of this… excitement."

Ron nodded slowly, his eyes moving over Harry quickly to try to determine how to address the situation properly.

"Where is she from?" he asked.

"Vienna."

"You two met in Berlin?"

Harry nodded.

"Yeah… yeah, we did…"

"And you… got _married_ in Berlin?" Ron asked, putting emphasis on the one thing that bothered him.

Harry caught the stress and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Um… yeah, we did," he muttered. "About a week and a half ago."

Despite what many thought, Ron was more observant than people gave him credit for. Especially when it came to Hermione and he remembered her talking about Ginny's disappearance.

"Wait… that's when Ginny…"

Taking a deep breath, Harry nodded again.

"Ginny was there," he told him and Ron took a step back suddenly, his eyes filling with confusion.

"Wait…Ginny was at your wedding?"

It took a moment for Harry to realize that Ron's confusion had suddenly shifted to anger and when he finally realized it, he was at a loss as to what to say.

"Um…"

"_Ginny_… The woman you've _hated_ for the past eleven years… the woman you _hurt_ for the past eleven years… My little sister... _she_ was at your wedding?"

"Ron-"

"I don't understand why she was at your wedding, Harry," Ron snapped, his eyes narrowing. He crossed his hands over his chest, waiting for an answer.

* * *

"Nicholas, wait," Rayne gasped and he pulled away from her, propping himself up on one elbow so he could still look down at her. They had snuck away to one of the rooms upstairs where they could be alone and now after snogging for a while, the Slytherin had become a bit more adventurous and impatient.

"Bloody hell, Rayne," he muttered, watching with disappointment as she began to button up her blouse, covering up perfect breasts that he had managed to explore for a total of forty five seconds before her conscience went into overdrive. "No fair."

"We talked about this, Nick," she snapped, giving him a pointed look. "Not right now and most certainly not right here."

Nicholas groaned and rested his head in the crook of her neck, sighing as she stroked his hair.

"But you can't just let a bloke have a feel and then yank away without any warning," he complained. She smiled and kissed his temple, rolling on her side to look him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "But right now… I think it would be better if we kept sex out of the equation."

"Fine," he whispered, kissing her cheek and then sitting up. "What do you think is going on downstairs with your sister?"

Rayne shook her head.

"I don't know… It's quiet, isn't it?" She looked up at him. "What do you think is going on?"

He shrugged.

"How should I know? It's your family," he pointed out and she poked him in the stomach.

"It'll be your family too if you have any hopes of getting into my pants, Kane," she said cheekily.

"My dear, getting into your pants is going to be the least of this boy's worries."

Both teenagers fell off of the bed when they saw a blonde woman standing in the corner of the room by the open window, a smirk on her face.

"This is going to be fun," Emory murmured, bearing brilliant pearly fangs as she eyed them. "Get up."

Nicholas wrapped his arms around Rayne's waist and held her to him, his own eyes narrowing as he sized the woman up.

"What the hell do you want?" he demanded, his hand snaking into his pocket.

Emory sat down on the bed and tapped her wand against her temple.

"Get up, Kane," she ordered with a little less patience. Her eyes began wandering to the door and they could tell now that she was agitated more than confident.

"No," he snapped and a deep growl vibrated from her chest and through her clenched teeth. Her eyes narrowed and grew dark while they traveled between the window and the door anxiously.

"I will ask you one more time and then I will _kill_ the redhead," she snarled, rising to her feet and pointing her wand to them both. "Get up!"

Rayne's grip on Nicholas had tightened to the point that he could not feel one of his arms, but he ignored the whimper that escaped her lips at the werewolf's threat.

"No," Nicholas muttered and she turned on him.

"_Avada Ke-"_

"_Avada Kerdavra!"_

The flash of green light lit up the room just as the door burst open and Draco Malfoy walked in, wand in hand. Rayne's scream was stifled by Kane's quick hand as he forced both of them to stand up. Draco's eyes had just fallen on Emory's lifeless form when Ginny burst in.

"What the…" She trailed off when she caught sight of the corpse. Her skin paled and she remained frozen there for a moment, unable to take her eyes off of Emory.

_When Ginny finally came back into consciousness, every part of her body was deadened. She could hardly feel her heart pounding within her chest, but she could see her breath rising above her. For a moment, she thought she might have been at Mungos because of all the white but when she looked up, she saw the dark night above her. _

_She was outside…_

Shaking herself out of her revere, she turned to Draco in anger. "_Damn it_, Draco! I tell you that you can't bring those three in the house and suddenly you feel the need to kill someone here to make your point?!" she hissed and he rolled his eyes, pointing to the couple in the corner.

"Despite what you think, I do have some semblance of self-control, Weasley," he replied. "Kane, on the other hand…"

Ginny's eyes widened and she turned to Nicholas.

"You?!"

Rayne also turned to her boyfriend, eyes wide in terror.

"Nick," she murmured, tears coming to her frightened eyes. "What…"

"WHAT'S GOING ON UP THERE?!" Moody demanded from the bottom of the stairs, causing the teenage girl to jump. He and Dumbledore had just gotten back from the Ministry with several more Aurors, much to Ginny's dismay. She glanced behind her quickly before she looked over at Rayne and pointed at her.

"You, come with me!" she snapped. "Now, Rayne!" The young woman quickly ran over to her guardian, still shaken and mute after what had just transpired. Ginny took a deep, calming breath and then turned to Draco and pointed to Nicholas and the body. "Take care of this!" Grabbing Rayne's hand, Ginny led the way back down the stairs, holding up her hand before Moody could open his mouth. "I'm not saying a _word_ to you," she snapped as she headed into the kitchen. "Mum, Reilly is upstairs in one of the rooms with her friends and Draco probably drugged them. I'd rather you didn't wake them up because there is currently a dead body up in Bill's old room and three dead bodies outside." Ignoring the startled looks and open mouths, she turned to Mariel with apologies written all over her face. "Mariel, I am _so_ sorry about this. Normally, Christmas is not so… violent, but with Draco back, I suppose something was bound to happen." She pulled Rayne close to her and grabbed her purse off the counter, her eyes beginning to fill with tears as something deep inside of her grabbed a hold of her heart and began to wrench it around. "I'm sorry, but I can't stay here."

"Ginny, wait-"

Before anyone could stop her, she disapparated with Rayne.

_

* * *

_

Hermione was on her way back to the waiting room with two cups of steaming tea in her hand and decided to pass by the nursery where Ginny's baby was being kept while she recovered. The poor girl had gone completely catatonic the moment the crying baby girl had been placed in her arms and after a few minutes, they had decided to give her time to rest. Hermione picked up the pace and almost dropped the tea when she rounded the corner and saw someone standing at the observation window just outside of the nursery.

_Draco Malfoy was just standing there, staring at Ginny's baby girl sleeping in one of the cribs. There was no expression on his face though his skin was paler than usual. Biting her lip, Hermione carefully approached him and stood right beside him._

"_Ginny isn't doing very well," she whispered. "Maybe if you saw her-"_

"_This isn't a social call, Granger," Draco growled, shutting her up effectively. "I'm just here to drop these off." He held up some papers and Hermione took them gingerly, frowning when she realized what they were. _

"_Divorce papers," she muttered. _

"_All she has to do is sign."_

"_You can't do this to her now, Draco," Hermione snapped angrily. "She's just given birth to your child and all you can do is shove _these_ in her face?!"_

_Draco's eyes hardened and the hall suddenly became very cold._

"_That _thing_ is not my child," he snarled. "It's a parasite that should be killed."_

_Hermione's eyes widened and she looked into the nursery._

"_You didn't come here to-"_

"_Kill it?" he finished before laughing chillingly. "No, I'm not so inconsiderate to the will of Mrs. Weasley as to deprive her of _another_ grandchild."_

_Hermione winced at his tone and looked down at the papers._

"_Then why are you here?"_

_Knowing very well that she had seen through the delivery excuse, Draco decided to be frank with her. _

"_I felt the need to see my father's handy work," he replied, his eyes moving back to the little thing in the crib. "Personally, I thought there would have been a lot more screaming."_

_Hermione's mouth dropped open and she took a step away from him. _

"_You were _there_?" she gasped and he smirked._

"_I stood outside the door, to be more precise," he responded, looking down at her with threatening, grey eyes. "I would appreciate it if you kept that to yourself. For your own sake."_

_A cold chill ran down Hermione's spine and she bit her lip as she watched him gaze upon Ginny's child with absolutely no emotion. It was as if the birth had destroyed whatever humanity he had managed to hold onto for the past eight months and he had reverted back to the old Draco Malfoy. The one everyone hated. The one she could see wanting to kill the girl on the other side of the glass. _

"_Perhaps you should leave," she murmured shakily and he glanced over at her briefly before he pointed at the baby._

"_That's not going to end well for a lot of people," he whispered as he walked away. "Including me."_

**A/N: I know, not much after the last chapter, but I will try to update once more before 2010. Can you believe it?! It's almost the New Year!**

**Dracoginnylover24:** I'm glad you liked it. This one was much shorter, but I hope you enjoyed it just as much.

**Mitra Laramie:** Well, Ginny's going through a hard time as it is. Christmas isn't exactly the best time in her life and with Draco back, I'm sure that's bringing back some bad memories, as you can tell. As for Jason, we'll go into more about what's going to happen between them in the next couple of chapters as well.

**AngeliqueBlack:** I don't think this cliffhanger was as poignant. But hopefully it's still intriguing.

**Jenny:** It was really hard to do that whole Draco/Harry/Jason thing without it blowing out into a strange battle of words. I love all three of the men so I didn't want to seem as if I was favoring Draco in any way. I hope you liked this one.

**Wesker888:** Oh, don't worry. I haven't been reading much either, though I have the time now. I've been focusing on other things. I'll try to get to your new story soon, but I might not review (Despite school being out, I need to work on a fifteen page paper). Not fun… I won't be retiring soon. I still need to finish this and hopefully my finishing product will be something worth reading. I already have most of the ending written down. It's just a matter of getting there.

**MaeSilverpaws1:** I'll focus a lot on Harry in the next chapter, so we'll see how the whole family is taking it. They don't yet know that Mariel is pregnant, so that might change their mindset as well. They weren't really werewolves. Animagus actually, so Draco dealt with them pretty quickly and I think Ginny had a handle on making sure no one bothered him in that process. Despite what she says, she really does think very highly of Draco and knows he can take care of things.

**MeggyandHaku:** Things are going to get _very_ interesting.

**purplegabby123:** We'll see…

**FreezingFire81:** Oh, you'll be surprised by what's going to happen.

**well just imagine:** That whole triangle is so complicated! Jason desperately wants his relationship with Ginny to work and I believe she feels the same way. However, Draco's intentions, or lack thereof, are making it difficult for her to figure out how to handle him. He hasn't really told anyone what he's really doing back in London and since he hasn't dealt with Greyback, it's starting to wear on Ginny's nerves, which is making things worse. That straight line might never come.

**No chapter tease. Sorry!**


	26. All Quiet on the Western Front

_I have lived in this world just long enough to look carefully the second time into things that I am the most concerned of the first time._ **-Josh Billings**

* * *

The bedroom was quiet, not that she minded. The solitude was comforting at the present and she was not about to break it by the petty tears that continuously filled her eyes and blurred her vision. Reilly, ever since she had returned a couple of hours ago, had continuously knocked on her mother's door, asking the woman if she was okay. The first couple of times, Ginny had responded calmly, hearing the distress in her daughter's voice. But after a while, the questioning became a nuisance and one quick irritated response forced Rayne to get up and remove Reilly and herself from the house.

Thus, the flat was quiet… not that she minded…

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and tried to stifle more tears.

For eleven years, she had managed to suppress memories of her sixth year Christmas. She had used every method possible to make sure nothing happened that would bring up the ghastly reminders and for eleven years, she had succeeded.

"Draco, you bastard," she muttered to herself. "Oh, you stupid bastard!"

Everything had been going fine. Her life. Her daughter's life. Her relationship with Jason. All of it was wonderful until he decided it was time to be a prick and interject himself into everything.

How was it possible for one man to do so much damage in such a short amount of time?

How was it possible for one man to carry so much death with him?

"_You know what I love most about you, Pansy," he whispered. _

"_What?" she asked incredulously, very well aware of the risk she was taking being so close to him. _

_Draco wrapped an arm around her waist and moved behind her, pulling her to his chest roughly. When a jagged breath escaped her lips, he smiled leaning into her neck so that he could see Ginny better. She was staring at the ground, concentrating on something… or trying to block something out. _

"_Your beautiful body," he whispered. He saw Ginny flinch a little but he knew they would all think of is a response to the cold floor and wounds. "And your impeccable ability to piss me off." _

"_What are you going to do about it, Draco?" she asked breathlessly, closing her eyes when his hands began to move lower down her body._

"_Nothing…" he whispered. "To you."_

Releasing a frustrated groan, Ginny leaned back on her bed and grabbed a pillow, placing it over her head before she screamed. Ever since Christmas, those horrible memories were beginning to bombard her again.

"_Draco," he said as he walked around her. "Tell me what you think about her."_

Biting her lip, she ran a hand down her breastbone, feeling the scars of where Lucius Malfoy had destroyed her. Opening her eyes, she turned over on her side and brought her knees up to her chest. This was his fault… If he had not come back… Jason would not doubt her… Reilly would not be in danger… Rayne would not be in danger… and she would not have to remember…

Thankfully, this time it did not end the same way… Ginny didn't know what she would do if something ever happened to Reilly or Rayne…

Now she was just lying here in her room, bemoaning her situation and remembering things from her past she wished to God had never happened.

"Why does this always have to happen to me?"

* * *

Harry found Mariel in the Burrow kitchen, looking out the window through clouded eyes. It was a gaze she wore often since he had told her about what would happen to him and he wished to God he never saw it again.

"Thinking hard?"

Mariel jolted and whirled around in surprise, dropping the cup of tea in her hand. She gasped and closed her eyes, trying to calm her breathing.

"Goodness, Harry, you scared me!" she gasped. "Don't sneak up on me like that."

Pulling out her wand, she flicked it at the shattered glass and it quickly fixed itself before zooming up to the counter. She then murmured something under her breath and a cloth flew to the floor, sopping up the tea that had spilt.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, watching her carefully and she looked up at him.

"Of course I'm fine, Harry," she replied, offering him a smile before she returned to cleaning up the mess. "I was just startled."

"Oh…"

She looked up at him again and frowned.

"Are you okay?"

He shrugged and sat down at the table.

"I'm just tired," he murmured. When she did not reply, he glanced over and saw tears in her eyes as she fiddled with the tea kettle. Closing his eyes, he cursed himself and stood up, moving over to her and pulling her into a tight embrace, which she willingly fell into. Her breath caught in her throat and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to release a sob. "Please don't cry," he whispered softly into her ear. "I don't like it when you cry."

Resting her head on his chest, she reached out and brushed the tears out of her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "I guess I'm just a little emotional right now."

He pulled away a little so he could look into her eyes.

"Hey," he whispered and she looked up. "I'm fine right now. Nothing else matters."

Mariel nodded slowly and tearfully.

"I know," she mumbled and he smiled, kissing her quickly on the lips before he leaned down so that his eyes were level with her stomach.

"Hey baby," he murmured, reaching out and touching her softly. "You're going to have a wonderful mother." Mariel released a watery laugh as he rubbed her belly and then leaned in to kiss her naval. "She's going to love you so much."

"Oh my gosh, you're pregnant!!" Mrs. Weasley squealed from her hiding spot behind the door. Harry fell away from Mariel as the matriarch hurried into the kitchen and scooped the poor girl up into her arms with excitement. "Oh dear, that's wonderful! Arthur! Arthur!" She turned to Harry. "Harry, I am so happy for you! Arthur! Arthur, oh the deaf man. ARTHUR WEASLEY! GET YOUR ARSE DOWN HERE NOW!" Mariel exchanged a frightened glance with Harry and he winked at her as Mrs. Weasley continued to hug them both.

"Oh I am so excited! A grandchild! Oh this is just wonderful!"

* * *

"Ginny?"

The sound of Hermione's voice brought Ginny out of her stupor and she sat up on the bed. Taking a deep breath, she quickly wiped away the tears from her face before she stepped out of her room and walked to the living room where Hermione's face was in the fire embers, looking up at her.

"Hermione?"

"Hey, Gin," Hermione whispered. "Are you okay?"

Biting her lip, Ginny sat down on the ground in front of the fireplace.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

Hermione looked behind her at something and then back at Ginny.

"Well… You left in such a rush on Christmas and then I heard about what Rayne saw and I was worried," she responded.

Ginny hesitated before she looked around her flat, trying to think of anything but the memories that began to seep through her subconscious into her waking mind.

"Um… yeah, I'm… I'm fine," she muttered and before she could stop the woman, Hermione disappeared, appearing moments later through the fireplace. "Hermione!"

Ignoring the redhead, Hermione sat down on the couch and glared at Ginny.

"We've been friends forever, Ginny, and I know when you're lying to me. Something's wrong."

There was a moment when Ginny considered telling her friend to mind her own business, but she knew that doing so would only force Hermione to use alternate means of getting the information that she sought.

"Why didn't you say anything about Harry?" she asked curiously and Ginny frowned.

"You're not mad at him are you?"

Folding her arms over her chest, Hermione tilted her head to the side and examined Ginny's face carefully.

"Harry has yet to explain why he told you and not us," she replied before straightening up a little. "Not that I'm jealous or anything."

Ginny's eyes narrowed.

"Why do you find it hard to believe that Harry would tell me anything?"

"Because he's hated you for the past eleven years," Hermione retorted knowingly, much to Ginny's surprise. "For him to suddenly-"

"He was trying to apologize for that," Ginny cut in swiftly, not wanting to hear the rest of Hermione's statement. "You and Ron have always been included in the major events in Harry's life and he always did his best to leave me out. I think he was trying to make up for that… besides, he told you anyway. It's not like you had to find out for yourselves."

Hermione stared at Ginny for a moment, quickly understanding Harry's logic in the whole situation. That did not mean she appreciated it, but at least she understood. Ron would probably need some more probing, but she would cross that bridge when it came. For now, there were other things to discuss.

"Fine," she whispered. She remembered her reason for Flooing in the first place and sat up a little. "Um… Ginny… perhaps you should talk to Jason."

Groaning, Ginny placed her head in her hands.

"I know," she moaned. "I know!"

"Ginny-"

"I'm barely hanging on to him, Hermione," Ginny cried. "He hates Draco and obviously Draco isn't doing anything to help in that! He killed three people and then Rayne's boyfriend… Oh bloody hell, this whole thing is a mess!"

"Have you talked to Rayne about what happened?"

Ginny snorted.

"She wasn't as shaken up as she looked," she muttered. "She's seen death before."

"And Reilly?"

Shaking her head, Ginny continued to keep her head in her hands.

"She doesn't know anything… Remus took Landon and Charlie has gone back to his family for the rest of the break," she replied.

"What about Draco?"

Ginny's head snapped up at the question and her eyes narrowed a bit.

"What about Draco?"

Hermione frowned at the reaction.

"Well, he's what's separating you and Jason from getting married, right?" Without waiting for an answer, Hermione continued. "If that's so, I think you need to deal with what ever it is you have bottled up inside before you try to patch things up with Jason. He's noticing things between you and Draco, Ginny."

"There's nothing going on between Draco and I because Draco and I are _divorced_," Ginny snapped, standing up and moving to the kitchen. "Everything is over and done with!"

"Then why can't you and Jason-"

There was a crack at the foyer and then Ron appeared in the room, motioning for his sister.

"Gin, you need to get over to the Ministry," he ordered. "Now."

Hermione and Ginny stood up and moved over to the man, frowning.

"Ron, what's wrong?" Hermione asked worriedly and he shook his head.

"ID's came back on those three wolves Malfoy killed. They're all students from Hogwarts and they're parents want Malfoy punished. Jason's been called in to assess their claim and I think you need to be there," he explained as quickly as possible before tugging on his sister. "Come on. Get your stuff and let's go!"

* * *

"This whole thing is starting to look like a bloody three ring circus," Moody growled as he and Dumbledore left his office and walked towards the place they were currently keeping Draco Malfoy. "Those parents are raising hell and now the media's got wind."

"What about Draco?" Dumbledore asked curiously and Moody snorted.

"I'm surprised he's still here," he replied. "Until we get more information, he's here of his own accord."

"At least he's cooperating this time."

"Or waiting for something."

Jason looked up from the file he was going over when Dumbledore and Moody entered the observation room connected to the interrogation room Draco was currently lounging in.

"He's been accused of several things," Jason observed. "But never actually convicted."

"Mr. Malfoy always seems to have a very good alibi," Dumbledore replied.

Frowning, Jason looked into the room, his mind stirring with hateful thoughts towards the man. Malfoy was the reason Jason's heart no longer stood the sight of Ginny without twisting painfully. He was the reason he second guessed everything Ginny said.

"It's not her fault."

Jason glanced over at Dumbledore.

"Excuse me?"

Dumbledore motioned to Malfoy.

"This… everything that has happened between you on account of Draco Malfoy is not her fault… She has been honest with you from the beginning about her relationship with Mr. Malfoy and I doubt she has tried to hurt you in that regard."

Jason took a deep breath and pointed to Malfoy.

"What is it about him that makes her act so… reckless?" he asked with confusion in his voice. "I know she still has feelings for him, but…"

"Do you love her?"

"Yes. Of course I do."

"Then try not to think too much on Draco Malfoy," Dumbledore whispered. "It will only make things worse."

Before Jason could respond, the door opened and Ron walked in with Ginny and Hermione close behind.

"Jason," Ginny whispered, hurrying over to him. "What's going on?"

Glancing over at Dumbledore quickly, Jason then motioned to the room Malfoy was in.

"He's being detained here until we can get all the facts in," he told her. "He killed three kids, Ginny."

"Protecting Reilly and her friends," Ginny replied.

"He's a dangerous man," Moody snapped. "He should be in custody anyway."

Hermione bit her lip.

"But didn't they attack Reilly and her friends. I don't understand why he's being held here," she stated from her spot beside Ron. "I'm sure one of Ginny's brothers would have done the exact same thing if they had gone out there."

Ginny could see the resolution in Jason's face and pulled him to the side. "Please tell me you don't think he should be punished for that, Jason…" When she saw his eyes cloud over she knew immediately this had nothing to do with Draco's guilt and more to do with Jason's dislike for the man. "Jason, I'm sorry about what happened at the Burrow, but you can't seriously believe that…" She could see that the others in the room were watching them and she lowered her voice. "You can't seriously believe that he's guilty of murder."

"He's killed people before, Ginny," Jason responded. "You said that yourself."

"But that's got nothing to do with what he did at the Burrow, Jason," she insisted. "He didn't _murder_ anyone. He protected Reilly, Charlie and Landon!"

"I can't trust him, Ginny!"

Her eyes widened before Ginny looked down at her hand and pulled off her engagement ring, holding it up.

"Then trust me, Jason! I told you that I love you and that no matter what happens between Draco and I, you are the only one I can trust anymore," she told him, tears coming to her eyes. "No matter what happens, I trust you and I want to marry you… But you have to trust me too!"

Jason sighed.

"Gin… I _do_ trust you and I want to marry you too," he whispered. "I really do… and I don't care about what you and Malfoy did… I mean… I understand completely about how you feel about him, I really do, Ginny… I just… I need to know that when everything's said and done… _he's_ not going to be around… Because as long as he's around, I can't help but feel like…"

"Something's missing," Ginny finished softly and he nodded, thankful that at last she understood a semblance of what he was going through.

"What's going to happen to Draco?" they heard Hermione ask from the other side of the room and Ginny looked up at Jason, biting her lip. He stared at her for a moment before he sighed and shook his head.

"Mostly likely nothing," he told them. "We all know he was saving Reilly and her friends. There's nothing we could have done."

Ginny flinched a little at the implication on her but said nothing. Jason was entitled to a little bitterness.

Moody groaned.

"Bloody hell, I have to release him," he muttered, leaving the room with Ron, while Hermione approached Dumbledore and began speaking with him quietly. Ginny glanced up at Jason quickly and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you," she whispered and he nodded, looking down at her.

"I love you," he murmured and she smiled.

"I love you too."

Ron entered the room again and motioned to them.

"Come on," he said. "It's time to go." He gave a nod to Dumbledore. "Moody wants to talk to you later, if that's okay?"

Dumbledore nodded and moved past them.

"I'll go now."

When the two couples got into the hallway, Draco was no where to be found, much to Ginny's relief. She did not need to deal with the man right now. She was just thankful that nothing had happened to him.

Reaching out she grabbed Jason's hand and gave it a squeeze. Delight flooded her when he squeezed back and a small smile appeared on his face, indicating that he had indeed gotten over whatever had happened on Christmas. She leaned against him and felt her heart flutter when his arm wrapped around her as they made their way to the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic. When they got out of the elevators, they were all surprised to see how full it was. Photographers and reporters were there, taking pictures and looking around for anything interesting while Ministry officials moved back and forth, eyes shifting to the podium set up close to the fountain repeatedly.

"Something must be happening," Jason murmured as they made their way to the fireplaces.

"Mr. Conwell! Mr. Conwell, wait!"

Ginny and Jason turned around to see a short, pudgy man hobbling over, flailing his cane about like a mad man as he struggled to keep his glasses on. When he reached the couple, he leaned down on his knees, gasping for air before he managed to straighten up and shoved his glasses back up his nose.

"Mr. Conwell," he greeted breathlessly. "I've been trying to reach you for a while."

Jason frowned.

"I'm sorry, I don't know who you are," he replied and the short man's eyes widened.

"Oh, yes, sorry. My name is Henry Perkins. I'm the man you sent the forms to for a marriage license," he explained and Ginny turned to Jason, eyes growing bigger.

"You sent them in?" she gasped. "Even after our fight?"

He glanced down at her and nodded slowly, taking a deep breath.

"I told you," he whispered. "I do want to marry you, Ginny."

Her eyes watered and she leaned up, pressing her lips to his heatedly. Tears rolled down her cheek when his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer.

"Ahem!"

Breaking away, Jason and Ginny looked at Perkins, who looked extremely uncomfortable with the display of affection.

"Um, Mr. Conwell, your marriage is what I came to discuss with you," he said, frowning when Ron and Hermione walked back up.

"Are you two coming?" Hermione asked and Perkins motioned towards the elevators.

"Perhaps we should talk in my office," he suggested but Jason shook his head.

"No it's fine. We're sort of in a hurry to go pick up her daughter, so if you could…"

Perkins seemed upset by this but he continued anyway, unaccustomed to this sort of mixed audience.

"Well…. Um… we went through Ms. Weasley's papers, since you indicated that she had been married before and we found a problem," he told them and Ginny frowned.

"What problem?"

The man looked Ginny over quickly and tilted his head to the side.

"You don't know?" he asked in such a rude way that Jason took a step towards him.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he snapped and Perkins took a step away.

"Mr. Conwell, all I meant is that I'm surprised that Ms. Weasley does not know about her current situation," he explained. "We looked through her files and it seems that she is indeed still… _Mrs._ Malfoy."

"_Excuse me?_" Ron gaped, looking over at Ginny in shock. "What are you saying?"

Perkins looked at all four of them and shifted a little

"According to my files, Ginerva Weasley is still married to Draco Malfoy."

**A/N: !!!!! This is going to be **_**sooooo**_** much fun! I am in **_**SUCH**_** a good mood. The year is about to end and 2010 is right around the corner! YAY! If you guys didn't get the meaning of the title, then you should read the book _All Quiet on the Western Front_. Not the best read, but if you read the last chapter, you'll understand.**

**purplegabby123****:** Hahahahahahahaha… You'll just have to see.

**DMLoVeR11:** Ginny's birth was always such a sore subject in this story, so I thought I'd give you insight.

**MaeSilverpaws1:** I'm glad you liked it. I think Mariel's mind is somewhere else at the present moment. As is Ginny's.

**The Darkest wizard:** We will have a little more of Draco's side of things in the next chapter. That includes Blaise and the others.

**AngeliqueBlack:** I think you'll like the next few as well.

**FreezingFire81:** Yeah, Draco had and still has some issues, as you can tell.

**Just continue on to the next chapter!**


	27. Semper Fidelis

**There is no other way to describe it…**

_In real love you want the other person's good. In romantic love you want the other person._ **– Margaret Anderson**

* * *

"Married?"

"Yes."

"To Malfoy?"

"Yes, for the tenth time, Mr. Conwell," Perkins snapped. "Ms. Weasley is still married to Mr. Malfoy."

These words still not compute in their minds because the four continued to stare at the short man as if he were crazy.

"Are you sure?" Hermione demanded. "I mean, positively sure?"

Perkins reached into his briefcase and pulled out a large stack of forms that looked oddly familiar to Ginny.

"These are the divorce papers," he told them. He flipped to a tagged page and pointed to the bottom. "There's a signature missing from both parties."

There was a moment in which all time seemed to stop and nothing moved. The air became uncomfortably hot around Ginny and suddenly her back was drenched with sweat.

This was wrong…

This was so very wrong-

Something snapped and Jason was the first to move. He turned to face Ginny and the look on his face nearly broke her to pieces.

"You're still married to him," he murmured shakily, the words still foreign to his mind and lips. He looked like someone had just struck him with the Confundis charm and Ginny was at a loss as to what to say.

This was _so_ wrong…

"You're…" Jason's eyes narrowed for a moment as he tried to find the strength to say the words without throwing up. "You're still… _married_ to… _him_…"

Ron and Hermione exchanged shocked glances, unable to comprehend how this phenomenon could have occurred.

"Ginny, I thought you signed the papers," Hermione whispered.

Ginny was still trapped in her mind, going over the day she had received the papers. Hermione had come in with them, handed them to her and her entire family had been there… they had all seen her…

Biting her lips, she struggled to remember every detail. There had been tears… not from her, but from her mother… There had been _several_ angry words, mostly from her brothers… an unhelpful conversation and then screaming… Then… she had signed… In her head she turned every page of the divorce papers, watching as her hand jotted down her signature on every line that needed it. _Every line_…

This wasn't possible… It wasn't even _probable_…

How… how could she still be married to him?

"Ginny!" Jason snapped and she jerked out of her revere, blinking several times before her eyes finally focused on the face of her fiancé, who was slowly becoming incensed.

"What?" she managed to offer and his eyes narrowed again.

"You're still _married_ to Malfoy," he muttered through clenched teeth and her heart jumped in her chest.

"Oh my God!" she gasped, slapping a hand to her mouth to keep herself from saying anything else. She stared at Jason for a moment before turning to Perkins. "Are you sure?"

The stubby man pointed to the blank lines and it felt as if scalding water had been thrown on her.

That page had not been there before… She would have remembered it… she would have signed it…

Suddenly it hit her and her eyes bulged. Rage filled her veins and her eyes blazed with hate.

"That son of a bitch," she gasped.

Jason, Ron and Hermione all stared at her.

"What?"

Ignoring them, she turned and headed back to the elevators.

"That son of a bitch…" Before she made it to the machine, the doors opened and Moody, Dumbledore and Draco stepped out. Her heart grew inflamed and she wanted nothing more than to slice that smirk right off his face. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" she screamed.

Perhaps it was a coincidence. Or perhaps it was Draco's own inability to stop attracting violence where ever he went.

No matter.

The explosion came from the fountain and instantly pandemonium reigned. Ginny was jostled around by terrified people, fighting to get out of the way of whatever it was that was attacking. She quickly lost sight of Jason and for a moment she thought it might have been a figment of her imagination to cope with the sudden change in emotions, but then she was shoved into a fireplace and before she could respond, someone called out a destination and she was gone.

She tumbled out of the fireplace and hit her head on a chair, groaning a little as she looked up to see Draco Malfoy step over her.

"What happened?" she muttered, still trying to shake off the cloudiness in her mind. She had a feeling she hit that chair on purpose.

"Greyback," Draco replied and she got to her feet.

"He attacked the Ministry?"

Draco shook his head.

"He just didn't want me there anymore," he replied and Ginny frowned, trying to understand the logic in that statement. Coming up with nothing, she looked around and frowned when the fire turned purple.

"Oh no," she muttered. "No, no, no, no…"

Draco glanced over at the fireplace and smirked. If the Floo was out, it meant there was a shut down on all magical activities in London, meaning no apparating either.

"You're stuck here, Weasley," he whispered and she whirled around, eyes blazing with anger.

"You!" she hissed, running over to him and shoving him in the chest. "YOU!"

"Me?" Draco stated, straightening his robes.

"We're still married!" she shrieked and he turned to face her.

"Are we?" he asked curiously and that only enraged her more. She could see the amusement in his grey eyes and it made her want to hurt him so badly.

"You son of a bitch," she snarled, pulling out her wand. "We're still married!"

Draco rolled his eyes and left the small room, crossed the foyer and entered his office. Ginny followed closely behind him, seething.

"Why do you do this?! Why do you always have to _control_ me?!" she demanded.

Raising an eyebrow, Draco sat down at his desk and looked up at her.

"Control you, Weasley?"

Her eyes narrowed.

"You left that paper out," she growled. "For eleven years I have been _married_ to you and I didn't even know it until just now!"

He leaned back in his chair and watched her carefully. It had been a while since he had seen pure hatred in her eyes and it was somewhat arousing.

"I don't understand why you're so upset," he told her in a calm tone. "You know now."

Ginny's eyes widened at his flippant approach and once more a murderous feeling flooded her.

"YOU LIED TO ME!" she shrieked and he sighed.

"I didn't lie to you, Weasley," he replied. "You simply failed to look over the papers carefully. Which is not my fault."

"Your lawyers were supposed to make sure everything was in order and _you_ must have done something to make sure that no one noticed!" she screamed. "How could you do that?!"

Draco snorted, a smirk appearing on his face.

"I just surprised that it actually took you eleven years to realize that you were still married to me," he commented, standing up and moving around her. "I suppose that means you've been cheating on me."

"What?" Ginny muttered, turning to him.

The smirk grew and he pointed to her.

"Everyone has always accused me of being _immoral_," he whispered, leaning in so that their faces were close together. "But you're the one who has been unfaithful."

Ginny's grip on her wand tightened and she raised it up to his neck.

"You manipulative-"

Draco grabbed her by the wrists and slammed her harshly into the wall, his face inches from hers. His stormy grey eyes were now blistering with barely controlled anger.

"What are you going to do, Weasley?" he hissed as she struggled against him. "You think threatening me is going to get me to change what I did?"

Ignoring their close proximity, she stared at him, her mind filling with so many questions.

"Why did you do it? Why would you leave and still want…" She could not finish the question before tears filled her eyes and choked her up. Draco however, was unfazed by this and smirked.

"Closure," he whispered and she frowned.

"What?"

Shaking his head, Draco tightened his grip on her wrists, making her wince a little.

"You are all about closure, Weasley," he whispered knowingly. "You needed closure with Potter and I knew that until you and I had closure, you would never get married again. So why bother getting a divorce."

Suddenly the mood in the room changed rapidly. Instead of the cold, hostility Ginny had brought in with her from the Ministry, things became electrifying and heated. So much so that Ginny felt the overwhelming need to flee the premises.

"I don't need closure from you, Draco," she muttered. "You left and that was it. Jason and I are getting married."

Again, that damned smirk that she hated so much. It was as if he were looking directly into her soul and seeing everything she refused to say.

"Is that why you two have been engaged for a year?"

Ginny glared at him and tried to get out of his grasp.

"You don't know anything about that," she spat. "Now let me go!" His grip became painful and she groaned a little, struggling desperately to get away.

But then, his eyes flickered down to her lips, a familiar look flashing through them. He then leaned in to her and she seized, her breath quickening immediately. She had seen that look several times and it terrified her.

She wanted to leave.

She _needed_ to leave.

"Draco, don't," she suddenly gasped. "Don't do this…"

But the lust was starting to grow in his eyes and she could feel it growing inside of her as well. The air around them was charged and their bodies were so close that it hurt not to be closer.

"Why not?" he asked, his need for her overwhelming him.

Despite the desperate state that they both were in, he wanted nothing more than to return to where they had left off eleven years ago.

His hand began to move down her body, feeling every curve and every dip. Ginny stopped him before he reached her hip, her eyes trying to get across her point.

"I can't…" she whispered.

That statement stopped him.

_Can't_…

Everything in her body ached... nothing was going right in the world around her…

She was engaged to a man that loved her and she loved as well… she had struggled so much to keep him that to do this… then there was Rayne and Reilly… and her family…

Yet all she could think about was the man hovering over her… wanting her… killing her…

She _couldn't_ let this happen… not again…

His eyes traveled down to her hands and hardened. The rock on her finger gleamed a little in the dim light and he moved his hand, pulling the ring off her finger. He looked at it for a moment before tossing it over his shoulder and looking back down at her bare hand his mind going over everything that was about to go wrong…

Everything that was going to go right…

He released his grip on her wrist and began to unbutton her shirt. She protested at first, but a quick glare shut her up as she watched with frightened eyes as he pushed her shirt off of her and stared down at her pale freckled skin, marred only by the bra that shielded her from him. All she could do was watch his eyes fill with unbridled longing as he leaned in, kissing her neck and shoulders reverently. Ginny closed her eyes, struggling not to cry and not to give in. She needed to get out of here yet her legs refused to work and her arms refused to push him away.

"Stop," she whispered pleadingly. "Please stop… please… I can't… I can't…"

His hands moved up and down the sides of her abdomen; gently at first but then with more fervor as he slowly began to lose control of reason.

He needed her… that much was certain.

Whether she needed him would not matter in a few minutes…

"Stop," she begged, trying desperately to ignore the pleasurable sensations that were surging up her spine, causing it to arch a little on the floor. She couldn't take it. The ministrations… the lips… the ecstasy… it was driving her mad! "Draco, _stop_! Please!"

He slammed his hand down on the wall near her face, causing her to startle and move up, where he grabbed her face with his other hand, his eyes blazing with a fire she had seen go out years ago.

"I can't do this anymore," he growled into her cold skin before leaving a blistering pathway of kisses down her neck, sternum and back up to her neck. He heard her groan and that only fueled his hunger for her. "I can't…"

Ginny wanted this to stop. She couldn't… she just couldn't… not after what he had done to her!

"Draco-"

He cut her off with a searing kiss, his lips moving fervently against hers as she started crying, clinging to him as he began to pull her closer. Their lips battled heatedly, both desperate to gain lost time. Plunging his tongue into her mouth, he felt himself grow aroused when she groaned as her back pressed against the wall. She pulled away quickly, her breathing shallow and her eyes closed as one of his hands massaged her thigh mercilessly.

"Draco, I can't do this," she cried. "I can't-"

His lips stopped her from talking, but this time Ginny had had enough of the teasing and pain and she somehow managed to shove him off of her, throwing him into the desk near by. Ginny then crawled around and found her ring, shoving it back on her finger before she stood up and looked over at Draco, who was starting to get to his feet. She made a dash for the door, but he got up and snatched her around the waist, pulling her back against his chest as he trapped her between himself and the desk.

"NO!" Ginny screamed, trying to pull away from him, but he only held on tighter.

"Don't fight this," he growled. "You won't win."

Ginny grabbed the desk and tried to push herself away from it, but he shoved her closer to it.

The feel of his body against hers was too familiar…

Too amazing…

"Draco, leave me alone!" she screamed suddenly, struggling desperately against him. The tears began to fall again as she tried to get away from the desk. "_Stop!_ Please, just let me go!"

His hot breath on her neck and his strong body against hers was doing things to her mind and body that she did not want to feel.

"I don't want this, Draco," she managed to gasp out. "I don't want you anymore! Please, just stop!"

"Why do you want to go so bad?" he growled into her skin. "What's out there that you could possibly want?"

She let out a choked gasp as his hands moved across her stomach. She wanted him to stop so badly. She needed him to stop… She couldn't stand the memories of him any longer… the longing… the feeling…

"Oh my God," she gasped suddenly when one of his hands plunged under her skirt and rested on her inner thigh, forcing another wave of euphoria to surge through her and making her back arch. She reached back and grabbed a fistful of his hair in her hand and almost attempted to yank him away, but an overwhelming sensation overrode her defense system and she ended up unwillingly pulling him closer. His teeth grazed her skin aggressively before he couldn't stand it anymore and turned her around quickly, his lips slamming into hers with such a bruising force that Ginny momentarily lost feeling in her legs. They buckled beneath her and Draco shoved her up against him, kissing her fervently before he moved away from them down to her neck, reacquainting himself with something he had lost years ago.

"Damn it, Ginny," he moaned, moving his hand across her soft, burning skin. "I need this."

Ginny struggled against him weakly, unwilling to admit that with every inch of her that he consumed she was slowly losing her ability to resist. Just the mere fact that he was using her name in such a way began to wear away at the defenses she was trying so hard to keep up. Every fiber of her being screamed for more of his touch… yearned to feel his body against hers….

"Draco please," she cried as his hand moved further up her thigh. She released a shriek the moment his fingers grazed her and she managed to gather the strength to pull away. She slapped him in the face and made a quick sprint for the door.

Ginny actually made it to the door before Draco caught her and pinned her to the wood.

"Where are you going to go?" he demanded and she shook her head.

"Please," she begged, but the whole time she wanted nothing more than to kiss him again. "Draco, stop it! I can't do this! I can't!"

She could not let herself get close anymore. Not with everything going on…

She couldn't let him control her…

Suddenly he released her and she crumpled to the floor, gasping for breath as tears rolled down her face.

"Fine," he growled before he disappeared up the stairs, leaving her alone on the cold marble.

"Oh God," Ginny groaned, placing her head between her legs as she struggled to keep from completely falling apart. She was trembling horribly and if she felt nauseous. She spent ten more minutes curled up by the door before she managed to drag herself back into the study and into a chair, still shivering.

Ginny knew very well that there was no way of getting out of this place. Draco had made it impossible to apparate within a mile of this place and even if she walked that far, she had a horrible feeling that going that far out would be a horrible idea. During her tenure at the Malfoy Manor eleven years ago, she was well aware of the security curses that he had set up on the perimeter and they were probably still there to keep people from coming in and going out. There was only one way out of Malfoy Manor and that was currently being blocked by the Ministry of Magic.

Biting her lip, she looked around and saw several books lying on the massive desk. She glanced out the door quickly before curiosity got the better of her and she went over to see what Draco had been reading lately. She shifted through several of the books, recognizing them from her trips to the Restricted Section of Hogwarts Library. Most contained potions recipes or genealogies; however her eyes caught sight of something on the desk that stopped her. Grabbing it up, she read the specific page that had been highlighted.

It was of a killing curse… but not one a Death Eater would normally use… it was the _Mirror Macabre_ curse…

"Oh my God," she gasped.

"What the hell are you doing?"

She jumped at his cold voice and looked to see him standing at the door, glaring at her. Raising a hand to her lips, she pointed to the section he had deemed important and tears began to form in her eyes.

"What are you planning to do?"

Draco's eyes darkened and he walked over to where she stood, pulling the book out of her hands and placing it back on the desk.

"What I have to."

Realization flooded her face and she went completely pale.

"Oh my God… Draco-"

He cut her off with a searing kiss before leaning into her ear.

"I've spent twenty-eight years being defined by my last name," he hissed, pulling away. "Not anymore."

Ginny pulled away from him, bumping into the desk. She shook her head as tears fell from his face.

"You can't be serious…" she whispered. "You can't-"

Draco grabbed her by the arm, squeezing tightly.

"Don't tell me what I am and am not going to do," he hissed.

Ginny shoved his hand away, eyes wide as hysteria began grip her heart.

"You've been planning this the entire time!" she shrieked suddenly. "Why would you-"

"I'm doing what I have to, Weasley," he snarled. "This is the only way to stop this!"

"OFFING YOURSELF IS NOT THE ONLY WAY TO STOP THIS!" she screamed, shoving him away from her and moving to the other side of the desk, where she picked up the book and shook it at him. "KILLING YOURSELF ISN'T GOING TO SOLVE ANYTHING!"

Draco leaned against the desk and closed his eyes.

This is not how he wanted her to find out…

This was not how it was supposed to be…

"Stop talking," he growled.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" she continued. "YOU CAN'T JUST-"

He moved so quickly that she barely had time to move when he jumped over the desk and grabbed her by the arms and slammed her against the wall, eyes blazing.

"Listen to me," he hissed. "Don't try to play the insulted thing because you and I both know that you've wanted me dead for eleven years!"

Ginny closed her eyes, a small sob escaping her lips.

"You can't do this! You can't just decide that the best way to solve this is to kill yourself-

"_The only way to solve this is for me to kill myself_," Draco snarled.

"NO IT'S NOT!"

She let out a sob when his lips covered hers, moving aggressively against hers as he pressed her against the wall. She grabbed his face in her hands, pulling him closer as she continued to cry, but he pulled away quickly and leaned into her ear.

"We can't live like this anymore," he whispered.

Ginny shook her head.

"We could try," she murmured, turning to brush her lips against his quickly. "We could go away somewhere… You, me, Reilly and Rayne-"

Draco shook his head, kissing her back just as eagerly.

"As long as I'm alive, it will never stop," he said.

"You could kill Greyback and then we could leave-"

"There are hundreds of people who want me dead," he growled, kissing her face and neck, making her cry harder. "They won't stop until I'm dead."

Ginny let out another sob before she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder.

"I don't want you to die," she cried. "I don't want you to-"

Draco grabbed her face and shook her angrily.

"Stop lying," he hissed. "Stop lying to yourself, Ginny! It was never going to work and it never will!"

Ginny shook her head, leaning into his hand and closing her eyes as he ran a hand down her face.

"Draco, please… don't do this," she begged. "This could end differently…"

Draco leaned in and kissed her heatedly. They leaned into each other, holding each other tightly as the desperation mounted. Draco's hands moved over her body fervently and her breathing was becoming uneven as they both reached some sort of release.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she managed to gasp out between each heated kiss. "Why didn't you say something earlier? Why are you making them believe that you won't help?"

Draco leaned in closer to her, trying to close the distance between them.

"I can't have idiots bumbling around when this happens," he hissed into her ear. "I don't need people telling me that I can't do this."

They kissed one more time before he pulled away. For one split second, she thought he was just going to leave and she was about to protest. The smirk at her actions stopped her.

"If we stay down here, that perfectly good bed will go to waste upstairs," he whispered into her ear and she shuddered at the thought. His lips grazed her burning skin momentarily before he motioned for her to follow. "Hurry up."

**A/N: Okay, there's one more chapter before New Years! And the next chapter **_**will**_** contain MATURE content. Head's up!**


	28. The Road Leading to Death pt 1

_I can resist everything except temptation._** –Oscar Wilde**

* * *

Hermione looked up from helping a small child bandage up his arm when Ron walked over.

"Hey," he whispered, watching her carefully as she finished what she was doing. The child returned to his parents and Hermione stood up, releasing a heavy sigh. "You okay?"

She nodded slowly and grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly.

"I'm fine," she told him. "Just a little shaken… what happened?"

Ron snorted and shrugged, motioning to the crowd of Aurors near the fireplace.

"Moody's been upstairs with the Minister for the past three hours and we just finished sweeping the _entire_ building."

"Really? It took you that long?"

Ron glanced around.

"This place has more rooms than you would think, Hermione," he whispered. "As you and I know from experience," he added bitterly, rubbing his arms ruefully. Hermione bit her lip, worry written all over her face.

"What about the explosions?"

Ron shook his head and pulled her towards the elevators.

"They've blown out the fireplaces and all communications out of here have been shut down," he muttered, knowing what she was thinking about. "'Mione, I'm sure Sara's fine. Fred and George have her with their kids and I'm sure they're okay."

Hermione did not look satisfied with his words, but she nodded nonetheless.

"What's going to happen, Ron?"

His answer was not pleasing.

"They think it was an attempt on the Minister's life so no one's going to be able to leave for a while," he whispered.

"How long is a while?" his wife demanded and he shook his head.

"Hermione, I don't know. It could mean a few hours, but…"

Hermione's eyes filled with fear and she grabbed his arm.

"But?"

"It could mean a few days."

"A FEW DAYS?!"

"Ron!"

They both turned to see Jason running over to them.

"Jason, there you are," Ron said. "We thought maybe you'd gotten out."

Jason shook his head.

"No, I didn't, but I can't find Ginny," he told them and Hermione frowned.

"We haven't seen her either."

The worry on Jason's face deepened and he motioned towards the crowds. One of men that hung around Draco a lot, Valance, was moving swiftly through some people with five other men following closely behind.

"Malfoy's not here either," he muttered and Ron straightened up.

"Well, I highly doubt she's with him," he told the man resolutely, though his eyes watched Valance until the man disappeared down a corridor. "She was probably swept into one of the fireplaces before they were destroyed. She could be anywhere." This information alarmed Jason and Hermione gave Ron a dark look. He hesitated before coughing and straightening up. "Jason, I'm sure she's okay. She's perfectly capable of handling herself. Don't worry too much."

Hermione softened her gaze a little, but her anxiety about the amount of time they would be here did not fade.

"Ron, we're not really going to be here for more than a day, are we?" she asked and Ron shrugged.

"I don't know, 'Mione," he replied. "Ever since the war, the Ministry has taken attacks on this building seriously. Besides… with this much security measures, I don't think this attack was focused just on the Ministry."

Jason was about to ask him what he meant but Moody interrupted him.

"Weasley!" he barked from by the fountains. "Get over here now!"

Ron rolled his eyes.

"I'll be back in a moment."

Jason turned to Hermione and she immediately saw the uncertainty in his eyes. She reached out and took his hand, giving it a comforting squeeze.

"I'm sure Ginny's fine. She's probably stuck in some official's house with ten other people who managed to cram into a fireplace," she offered with a smile. "It'll be fine."

* * *

"What are you thinking about?"

Draco propped himself up on one elbow to look down at Ginny, who had been watching him silently for the past few minutes. She looked beautiful beneath him, with her red hair pooled out all over the pillow and her bright brown eyes gazing out at him from her exhausted body. She looked content… alluring…

His mind went through everything that had happened in the hours that had passed between when they had been at Hogwarts to now, where they lay naked in his bed, satisfied and just as addicted to each other as they had been when they were together eleven years ago.

"What do you think I'm thinking about?"

Ginny bit her lip, knowing if she said it out loud it would come much more quickly than she wanted it to. Draco knew she was not going to respond so he leaned in and kissed her gently. She gasped a little when he shifted so that most of his body was on top of her, pulling away to gain some air.

It took her a moment to get her bearings, especially with him pressing himself as close to her as he possibly could. She let out a soft whimper as his hands skimmed across her back, hips, reaching the small of her back and luscious dip where her rear curved slightly.

She reached out and took his face in her hands, looking into his fierce grey eyes and tried to get her point across to him.

A smirk crossed his tempting lips but the seriousness of her next question almost killed his euphoric mood.

"Is this what you came back for?"

His grey eyes iced over quickly as his mind instantly played the last few months over in his head. From their talk in the café, to their kiss at her flat, to Ginny's complete meltdown before he cracked under the pressure of being around her so long.

He ran a hand down her side before leaning in and kissing her softly under her ear, smiling when she gasped at the gesture.

"Do you remember the first time we shagged?" he asked quietly.

Ginny turned to look him in the eyes, a small smile on her face.

"You mean the first time we made love?"

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

Ginny leaned up so that their lips were touching, a coy look on her face.

"What about the time we _made love_?" she asked.

He looked over her quickly before leaning in and kissing her. A soft gasp escaped her lips as he pushed against her, a brief burst of need flaring up within both of them until he managed to gain control of it and pull away.

"Ever since then I've wanted to kill myself…"

* * *

"Please, slow down!"

Draco released a warning snarl into her skin as their bodies burned and fused together fervently. Ginny bit down hard on his neck, moaning pathetically as their lovemaking became more aggressive. She tried to slow his full and lustful actions but he was too far gone to be reached by even her. His hands were clutching her possessively as he began to reach his climax, his mind addled with the maddening experience of her. The wanton and undeniable pleasure of their sensuous and unrelenting movements only heightened the reality of their situation.

"Damn it," Draco growled when Ginny's nails began digging into his back, causing it to bleed as their bodies continued to push against each other feverishly. She released a strangled cry, her body blazing under Draco's driving enthusiasm.

"Oh my God," she cried just as Draco placed his left hand firmly on the mattress, and lifted himself off of her slightly, leaning into her neck and panting heavily. The shift caused such an amazing friction between them that she began to ramble incoherently, begging him for what was now extremely necessary. The idea of taking it slow became too tortuous for Ginny and both seemed to realize that simultaneously because soon a mindless passion overwhelmed them, leaving no choice but to seek completion.

There was a moment of silence before a licentious scream cut through the super-charged air and then Ginny's labored breathing filled the room as Draco collapsed on top of her in utter exhaustion. He savored the feel of her sleek, supple body shuddering beneath his as their breath intermingled heatedly. For a couple of moments he lay there, listening to her mutter inaudibly to herself before he kissed her shoulder reverently and rolled onto his back, his own chest moving up and down quickly as his heart pounded fiercely against his ribcage. "Shit," he swore breathlessly, his body yearning for her warmth. "Shit."

"Draco," Ginny whimpered weakly, grabbing the bed post as she struggled to maintain some sense of sanity. "Oh bloody hell!"

A smirk appeared on his face and he glanced over to see her muttering to herself. Again, he could feel his entire being screaming for her, the sweat that rolled off of her lithe, trembling body only appealing to him more.

"Enjoy yourself then?" he asked as he looked up at the ceiling and struggled to gain control of himself. It had been years since his mind had been so senselessly bombarded… years since he had pushed his body so far that he would not only break someone but ruin himself… it had been years since he had felt such… amazing fulfillment.

Ginny bit her lip and groaned, pressing the palms of her hands to her eyes.

"Sod off," she mumbled in such a strange tone that Draco turned his head to watch her briefly before summoning enough strength to roll over on his side and look down at her, observing the tears that were brimming in her eyes.

"You're not going to start crying, are you?" he asked coldly, causing her to flinch as she reached up and wiped her eyes. She then looked away from him, focusing on anything but the unbelievable session they had just had.

"No," she mumbled halfheartedly before she sniffed indignantly. "Why would I be crying?"

A smirk appeared on his face as he watched her wipe away more tears.

"Because I'm that good," he murmured.

Ginny suddenly looked up at him and after staring for a few minutes, she uttered a couple of profanities, hit him in the face and then sat up in bed.

"Go to hell," she snapped before shoving the sheets off of her and grabbing his robe off of the floor. She then proceeded to walk over to the bathroom and slam the door shut behind her, releasing a scream of frustration before everything went silent.

Draco ran a hand over the side of his face before he lay back down in the bed, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Moody little bitch," he muttered. He took her little emotional tantrum as a time to enjoy the silence that echoed throughout the house. His mind wandered to the others and he hoped to God that they were staying close to the fire. He also hoped that Rayne was staying out of trouble. A smirk came to his face when he thought of her boyfriend and how well the young man had handled the situation at the Burrow.

"What are you smirking about?"

Opening his eyes, he looked over to the bathroom door to see Ginny standing there, frowning at him.

"You wouldn't like it," he replied knowingly. She approached the bed and stood at the end, clutching the dark mahogany poster.

"How did you do it?" she asked and he sat up in bed.

"Do what?"

She gave him a look.

"How did you manage to make the records show that we were divorced?"

The smirk on Draco's face grew.

"It wasn't that hard, Weasley," he replied. "Especially since you Weasleys failed to realize that a page was missing."

"Someone from the Ministry should have looked it over before it was declared legal," Ginny snapped. While her annoyance was no longer aimed at Draco, she was unable to get past the fact that he had once again managed to do something that should have never happened.

"Someone did look it over."

Her eyes narrowed and she released a sigh of frustration.

"Does _everyone_ do what you want when you wave a few Galleons in front of their face?" she demanded and he laughed.

"A few?" he snorted. "More like twenty thousand."

"Twenty thousand!"

Draco leaned back on the bed and sighed.

"It's not that much money," he muttered and she frowned.

"You paid a man twenty thousand Galleons just so you could make me believe that I was finally rid of you?"

"Ingenious, right?"

"I'm still trying to figure out why you're such a manipulative arse," she replied and he looked over at her.

"You can figure that out after I'm gone."

Biting her lip, Ginny's eyes went over him carefully, all the while wondering how she had gotten herself into this situation. How she had ended up in bed with him and why he was planning on killing himself at this time…

"Why now?" she asked feebly.

It was a funny question to ask…

_Why now?_

_Why not eleven years ago?_

_Why not months ago?_

"Come here," he ordered coolly and she willing came, pulling off the robe before she slipped back into the bed. She eased into his arms gently and released a sigh when he moved around so he was on top of her.

"Why now?" she asked again, looking up at him expectantly.

"Because," he whispered, leaving a light trail of kisses down her neck to her collarbone. His hands moved up her back again, holding her closer. "I can't live like this anymore…"

"But I-"

"This situation doesn't change anything, Ginny," he said coldly.

She closed her eyes when she felt his hand move down her side to her hip, holding her firmly to him as he looked into her brown eyes. She ran a hand down his face and then leaned up to kiss him. They stayed like that for a moment before he rolled off of her onto his back and they lay there in the bed, minds traveling to a reality far removed from the one they were in…

A reality that had existed once in the future, but had been destroyed by the past…

She rolled over on her stomach, looking down at him curiously.

"Do you love me?" she asked suddenly.

Draco's silver eyes opened, falling on her and sending pleasant shivers down her back.

"What?"

"Do you love me?"

Draco's eyes moved over her face, searching desperately for the very answer she was looking for in himself. He saw it all over and felt it even more intensely than before.

"I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't," he told her.

Ginny bit her lip, but kept herself from crying as she ran her eyes over him, taking in everything that she had fallen in love with eleven years ago.

His blonde hair, his perfect pale face, smooth rock-hard abs and everything else that followed…

Everything that she had spent the last few hours exploring…

She reached out and ran her fingers across his lips, loving the feeling of them on her fingertips.

"What was the first thing that went through your mind when you first kissed me?" she asked.

Draco raised an eyebrow as she ran her hand down to his chest, her fingers tapping lightly against his hard abs, causing pleasurable shivers to run up and down his back.

"The first thing?"

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Well, besides the fact that I was a Weasley," she added.

Draco shrugged, running a hand down her bare arm.

"I guess I thought… you were perfect…"

Ginny smiled and shifted around so that she could look at him better.

"In what way?"

Draco propped himself up on one elbow and smirked.

"My, my, someone's getting full of themselves."

"At least I don't snog my reflection."

He reached up and fingered a piece of her flaming hair. His eyes moved over her face slowly, memorizing every freckle… every slight flaw that only made her more beautiful to him. Draco then pulled away a little and lifted the covers so that he could have a clear look of her immaculate and arousing form. Again, the primal urge to devour her pulsed through his veins like wildfire and it took everything in his power not to recapture her right then.

"Funny… you don't look a thing like me…"

Ginny blushed under the obvious lustfulness in his eyes and pulled the covers back down over herself. She leaned in and kissed him quickly on the lips, a warm smile on her face.

"You're such a charmer."

"I believe the words you used the night in the prefect bathroom were manipulative, pratish, insufferable, uncivil, insulting, inconsiderate, sarcastic, ill mannered, conceited, insensitive, sexy, witty, unfriendly, egotistical, vindictive-"

Ginny cut him off quickly, laughing as she kissed him, moving closer as his arm circled around her waist.

"As much as I'd love to sit here and listen to you compliment yourself," she murmured into his lips. "We don't have all the time in the world to go through everything that you _should_ be called, so…"

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"_So_?"

Ginny bit her lip.

"Let's do something more productive," she whispered, rolling over so that he was on top of her.

His hands traveled down her body, stopping at her stomach. He watched as her eyes closed as his hand moved up her body with a slowness that taunted her. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to be as close to her as possible. He leaned in and kissed her softly.

"I can think of a few things," he whispered against her lips.

Ginny smiled and opened her eyes.

"Really?" she asked.

Draco nodded, moving down her jaw to her neck. He felt her sigh beneath him as he continued his ministrations on her, making him want her even more.

"Really," he murmured before pulling her closer. "I'll show you…"

* * *

A shifting inside of her woke Luna Zabini up that night. It happened quite a bit, but this time the baby jolted her into consciousness and for a while she lay there, smiling as a foot moved across the surface of her belly, filling her with a joy she had been feeling often lately. Sleep was just about to overtake her again when a strange noise from downstairs broke through the thin veil and alerted her to something wrong. Sitting up a little, she nudged her husband sleeping soundly beside her.

"Blaise."

"Hmmm…"

"Blaise."

"What?"

There was another sound and the expecting mother grew worried.

"Blaise, wake up," Luna whispered urgently.

"It's only been seven months, Luna," Blaise grumbled, turning over on his side so his back was facing her. "You're not going into labor."

Rolling her eyes, Luna leaned over and kissed his neck. When he did not respond, she began tugging on his ear in a very seducing way and his eyes finally opened.

"What?" he hissed and she pointed out the door.

"There's someone in the house," she murmured quickly.

Blaise groaned, pulled out his wand from under the pillow and sat up.

"Bloody hell," he muttered. "Stay here."

Luna bit her lip but stayed in bed as Blaise left the bedroom and headed down the hall. Below him he could hear creaking in the floorboards and slight confusion fell upon him.

If someone was coming in for them, why come in downstairs?

His house, unlike Malfoy's, was not as… _protected_ as the Manor, mostly because he did not have tons of people trying to kill him. But if the person down stairs was trying to kill him, they were off to a _very_ bad start.

When he came to the stairs, there was someone sitting on the couch with blonde flowing hair and long, sexy legs. He tucked his wand in the back of his boxers before he continued down the stairs.

"And the bitch rises from the dead," Blaise remarked, moving around so that he could see her face. "Emory Vince."

Her lips pulled up, revealing long, glittering fangs.

"Draco wasn't stupid enough to think I was dead, was he?"

Blaise shook his head.

"No… We all knew Greyback was not a fool enough to send you to chase after three children," he said. "But for me… I'm flattered."

Emory's eyes moved over his bare chest with interest.

"It's a shame. The little bimbo Kane killed was actually a very nice girl," she whispered.

"She shouldn't have tried to hurt Rayne."

The werewolf remained silent for a moment as she stood up and moved over to the large bay window. Her eyes moved up to the sky and a faint smile appeared on her face.

"Draco's run out of time, Zabini," she murmured. "Greyback's tired of waiting."

Something flew past the window and immediately Blaise knew something was wrong. He pulled out his wand and motioned to the door with it.

"I suggest you leave, Vince," he said calmly.

Emory's lips pursed into a smirk and she pointed out the window.

"I think it's going to be a full moon."

Blaise had seen transformations before, but that did not mean it was pleasant. Especially when the werewolf used to be such a beautiful woman. He backed up and pointed his wand at her as she continued to grow, stretch and contort into a massive creature.

"I always hated you," he growled. "_Avada Ke-"_

"BLAISE! BLAISE!" Luna screamed from upstairs. "THEY'RE OUTSIDE!"

This was no longer about defending himself to continue working for Malfoy. That scream made this much more personal. Suddenly, this was about his child and without another thought he disapparated into his bedroom, appearing right at the door when two larger monsters surged through the windows. Luna was on the ground behind the bed, clutching her swollen belly with blood coming down her face from shattered glass.

"_Avada Kerdavra!_" he snarled and one of the werewolves collapsed onto the bed. The other stopped and turned to face Blaize, eyes pulsating with bloodlust.

"BLAISE!"

Before he could hiss another killing curse the thing struck him in the chest, releasing a chilling howl. Blaise fell to the ground, clutching his bleeding chest. Luna grabbed hold of his wand and pointed it at the creature.

"_Avada Kerdavra!_"

The thing fell to the ground and she crawled over to Blaise, tears falling down her face rapidly.

"Blaise! Blaise, get up!" There was a shrieking howl from just outside the room and in the next moment one more werewolf crashed through the door, rearing up on both hind legs to leer down at them. A terrifying smile appeared on the monstrosity's face and Luna raised her wand. "Get out of here, you BITCH!" she yelled. Blaise reached up and snatched the wand out of her hand and flicked it at the werewolf. Emory went flying back and crashed into the wall. Before she could get up, Blaise fell back on the floor, clutching his chest in pain as he shoved the wand in Luna's hand.

"Get us out of here," he growled breathlessly and she pulled him to her just as Emory launched herself at them. "Now!"

* * *

"You know, if you continue to stare at me like that, I'll be forced to reconsider letting you go," Ginny murmured an hour and a half after their previous conversation.

Draco was lying directly on top of her, resting his chin on her chest as he stared at her with a smirk on his face. His arms were resting carefully on either side of her body, holding him up enough so as not to crush her. The look he had in his eyes was one of amusement and obvious satisfaction; two things she'd been seeing a lot of lately.

"The only way you can force me to reconsider leaving is if you had-"

Ginny placed a finger to his lips, biting her own to keep from squealing when one of his hands ran down her back to her ass, gripping it firmly as his smirk grew. Shockwaves of unbridled want shot down her back and it took her a moment to clear her mind of the haze.

"Is sex all you think about?" she asked.

Draco shifted his weight on her before resting the side of his head on her chest, relaxing as she ran her hands through his hair.

"It's all we've been doing since we came here," he said, enjoying the feeling of her fingers massaging his head. "I thought it was an appropriate response."

Ginny snorted.

"Since when have you ever had an appropriate response?" she asked, closing her eyes and sighing as Draco's weight increased on her.

Draco raised his head to look at her.

"I would say that you have a point, but then again, when we're shagging, you're never really appropriate either," he commented, causing her to blush violently beneath him.

He smiled at that reaction and pulled himself further up her body so that their faces were even with the other. "I don't always think about sex, Ginny, but I do always think about who I'm going to have sex with."

The young woman could not help but tremble beneath him before she reached out and ran a hand down his face. She considered him for a moment before offering a smile.

"You want to know who I'm thinking about having sex with right now?" she asked before letting out a breathless groan when he pressed himself into her. Her eyes fluttered close and she tried not to get him to continue with his movements. Despite her eagerness, she knew they were both too exhausted for another session.

He watched the way she reacted to him before he leaned in and kissed her softly below her ear as he wrapped his arms around her supple waist, pulling her closer. He rested his head in the crook of her neck and sighed into her skin, wanting to stay there forever…

This is what he wanted…

This is all he ever wanted…

Ginny breathed in deeply, running one of her hands through his hair idly while her other hand traveled up and down his sweaty, chiseled back as they lay there, basking in the warmth and vulnerability of the moment…

"I love you," she whispered as sleep began to overtake both of them.

Draco kissed her neck tenderly, but did not respond.

He just held on to her…

* * *

"Trent, there you are!" Rayne called, motioning for her friend to hurry over to where she and Reilly sat in a booth in the Three Broomsticks. After the alarms had gone off at Hogwarts about some sort of attack, the town had been placed on alert and the two girls had been unable to leave. Several students from the school had also been visiting Hogsmeade and many were swarming into the Three Broomsticks for a place to stay while they waited for a way to get back to their homes. Trent hurried over to where they were seated and smiled.

"How long have you two been here?" he asked curiously and Reilly rolled her eyes, leaning over in the booth dramatically.

"_Forever_," she groaned. "It's been two hours!"

Rayne shot the girl a mean look before she turned to her friend.

"Where have you been for the past couple of hours?"

Trent was about to answer when the door to the place opened and Hanna Thomas walked in with Gordon Quinn. Trent and Rayne watched as the couple moved over to a small table in the corner. Hanna looked upset but Gordon seemed to be enjoying the commotion. He whispered something into Hanna's ear, she nodded mutely and he got up, heading towards the bar. Rayne glanced over at Trent and nudged him.

"She doesn't look very happy," she whispered and Trent nodded.

"Yeah…"

Reilly frowned.

"Isn't that the girl you like, Trent?" she asked and Trent jolted to attention, blushing.

"Um… what? No," he stammered before Rayne grinned and nodded.

"Yes it is," she answered, giving her friend a look. "You should go talk to her."

"She's with her arse of a boyfriend," he hissed and Reilly sat up straighter.

"She's also coming over."

Trent's eyes widened and he turned just in time to see Hanna reach their table, a hesitant smile on her face.

"Hey, Rayne," she greeted. Her eyes moved to Trent and her smile faded a little. "Trent…"

Rayne and Reilly exchanged glances and tried their best not to look like they were there.

"Hey, Hanna," Trent muttered. "How are you?"

She bit her lip and glanced over her shoulder towards the bar before she responded.

"Um… I just… I wanted to apologize… for what happened at the Ball," she whispered. "I haven't talked to you since then and… I overreacted…"

Trent hesitated and shifted a little in his seat.

"Well… I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said those things about Quinn," he said. "It was wrong and it's probably not true… I…" He struggled with the words that were about to come out of his mouth. "I hope everything's alright with you and Gordon…"

Hanna looked over to the bar again, as if trying to figure out what her boyfriend was actually doing, and then she shrugged.

"Oh… yeah… everything's fine," she muttered distractedly. She stood there for a while, lost as to what to do. It was obvious to those at the table that she had no interest in returning to her table in the corner, but they could tell that she was uncomfortable with sitting with Trent's friend and her sister at the table. Rayne nudged Reilly and pointed to the bar.

"Let's go get some drinks," she said loudly, standing up. "Trent, do you want something?" He shook his head and watched thankfully as she and Reilly walked away.

Hanna waited a couple more minutes before she sat down and kept her eyes on her hands.

"Um… why _did_ you say all of those things?" she asked quietly. "If you didn't mean it…"

Trent stared at her for a moment before he shrugged, suddenly wishing he had asked Rayne to bring him back a drink.

"I was just upset…" His eyes caught sight of Gordon heading back to his table and he pointed to it. "Um… I think he's looking for you."

The look on Hanna's face indicated that his comment irritated her and he instantly wished he had not mentioned her boyfriend again. That's what got him in trouble in the first place. However, before he could respond she leaned over the table and pressed her lips quickly to his. He became rigid at the action, stunned into silence as her soft lips caressed his in such an obvious display of affection. When she pulled away, she looked completely embarrassed by what she had done in such a public place, but unforgiving for her meaning. Without another word, she stood up and returned to her table, sitting down in distracted silence beside her boyfriend, who had missed what had just happened. Rayne and Reilly, however, had not missed a thing and they hurried over to the table, setting down their drinks before turning to Trent, who had not yet recovered from the kiss.

"What was that for?" Rayne demanded with a huge grin on her face.

"I don't know," Trent uttered, blinking a couple of times before turning to his friend. "Did she just kiss me?"

Rayne snorted.

"Kiss you? If it hadn't been for all these people, I think she would have snogged you right here," she responded impishly. "Oh, I have to tell Lisa about this when we get back to Hogwarts. She's going to be so put out that she missed it."

* * *

"Hungry?"

Ginny glanced over her shoulder when Draco entered the kitchen in nothing but his boxers, making her smile and shrug.

"I was looking for something to eat," she answered. "For a man who has everything, you don't have such a wide selection of snacks."

Draco moved over so that he was right behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder as he gazed at the contents of cabinet she was looking in.

"There may be nothing here, but I think we do have strawberries… honey… chocolate…"

"Mushrooms," Ginny murmured and he frowned.

"I'm sorry, were we listing things I would _want_ to eat off of your body, or?

Ginny smiled and turned around in his arms.

"When I was pregnant, I had this unbelievable craving for mushrooms," she whispered. "I don't really know why."

Draco raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Instead he just leaned in and kissed her right under the ear, smirking when she shivered and inched closer. He was about to pull her robe off when her stomach growled and she giggled.

"I wasn't joking about trying to find something to eat, Draco," she told him, motioning to the clock on the wall which read four in the morning. "We've been at it all night and I'm starving."

Sighing, he moved away from her and snapped his fingers. A house elf appeared and before Ginny could protest, Draco ordered the creature to make her something good to eat.

"Draco, really, I can fix things myself," she whispered, moving out of the elf's way and over to where he stood. "I _do_ remember my way around this place."

Draco tilted his head to the side and placed his hands on her hips, lifting her up onto the counter and stepping in between her legs.

"You seem to be remembering a _lot_ of things," he murmured into her ear huskily and she trembled at his meaning. She allowed him to kiss her a few times before she pulled away and looked around, her eyes roving over many things that she recalled from her past.

"I remember this being where it all ended," she uttered and he tensed a little.

"Or so you believed."

She released an indignant huff and pointed a finger in his face.

"I still can't believe you would do such a horrible thing," she snapped. "You have no idea what those papers did to me."

Draco raised an eyebrow and tugged a little on her ring finger.

"Not much seeing as you got engaged," he pointed out and Ginny's eyes widened.

"Oh my God, Jason," she gasped and he snorted.

"It took you several hours of shagging to make you realize that you were forgetting your fiancé?" he asked incredulously and she smacked him in the arm, shooting him one of the darkest looks he had ever seen from her.

"I made a promise-"

"_Technically_, Weasley," Draco cut in, ignoring the look she gave him. "You've been unfaithful to me, not Mr. Moral Conwell at the Ministry."

"Because you were selfish enough to _refuse_ to give me a _real_ divorce," she snapped back and he laughed.

"Selfish? You're the one here, Weasley and not at the Ministry with your fiancé," he pointed out. "I didn't force you into my bed."

"Just because I'm here doesn't mean I can't feel bad for what I'm doing to him, Draco," she muttered depressingly, running her hands through her hair with a hint of anxiety. "I told him I loved him and that whatever was going on between you and I was over… and here I am making love to you…"

A smirk graced Draco's lips and he leaned into her, kissing her neck while his hand moved slowly up her thigh.

"Several… satisfying… times," he whispered, emphasizing each word with a specially placed kiss. Groaning, Ginny shoved his head away.

"Have you ever _had_ a conscience?" she asked skeptically and he grinned.

"Once," he remarked. "I married you."

Ginny sobered up immediately and she said nothing until the house elf was done with her food. She thanked the creature and quickly started to eat, not realizing just how hungry she was until she smelt the delicious food. Draco picked from her plate, watching her for the most part until she was done. It was easy for him to see that she was still bothered about this whole situation, but he was not about to worry himself over it. She could feel guilty about Jason Conwell all she wanted. There was no way for her to leave and he knew she had no intention of doing so any time soon.

They then made their way back up to the bedroom, passing the massive living room on the way up. Ginny stopped at the door, staring at the purple fire burning brightly in the fireplace and bit her lip. Draco halted as well and noticed the look on her face.

"Do you think the fire will turn green long enough for you to make a dash for it and escape?" he asked quietly and she shook her head, looking up at him through sad brown eyes.

"No," she murmured, giving one last look at the fireplace before she moved on to the staircase. "I gave up on escaping a couple of hours ago."

When they reached the staircase, she stopped again, this time to stare at the reddish stain in the marble. She could not help but kneel down and run her hand through it, biting her lip at the thought of what had happened those many years ago. Draco had not been secretive on the events surrounding his mother's death. It seemed as if he had relished the idea of telling her what had happened. He had let her see the memory of it as well…

"_WHERE ARE YOU?!" Draco roared, wrath scorching in his stormy silver eyes. "SHOW YOURSELF!"_

"_Now Draco, is that any way to talk to your mother?"_

_Draco whirled around, glaring at his mother, who was standing at the top of the stairs on the second level, a smirk on her face. _

"_I see you're still upset about what happened," she observed mockingly as she glided down the stairs with the grace of royalty._

The bitch_, Draco hissed in his mind, tensing at the thought of his father's disappearance. He was the one Draco wanted to suffer… his mother was just a hindrance to that goal. _

"_I'm beyond upset, Narcissa," he growled. "You should know that."_

Taking a deep breath, Ginny looked up at Draco and could see it in his eyes again. The same searing hatred her brother had seen that night. He and Harry had described it as terrifying and unhinged and something they hoped to never see again. What she saw now was only a faint glimmer of the emotions that had pumped through his veins that night. Sighing, she stood and took his hand, leading the way back up the stairs to his room. Behind her, she could still hear the screams of a desperate mother…

"_Draco, be reasonable! Draco! DRA-"_

**A/N: Okay, maybe not before New Year's Eve, but it's New Year's Day! HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope you all enjoy this!**

**purplegabby123:** Don't cry yet! It's not over!

**FreezingFire81:** I think the more you think about it, the more it makes sense. Their relationship is so screwed up that if they even try to get back together, things will only get worse for them.

**Dracoginnylover24:** Semper Fidelis, this chapter and the next chapter have been one large document in my folder since I started this story. I am not kidding about that. I have had these chapters written for such a long time that I've had them memorized. It was all a matter of leading up to this point and I think if you go back, I have dropped hints about Draco's intentions the whole time, starting with the first chapter. Draco always said that he would never give Ginny that letter unless he was dead and then he said he'd wait a little while before giving it to her. His intentions were there, I just never vocalized them until now.

**Angelique Black:** The next couple of chapters will focus primarily on Ginny and Draco, with a little detour to break the monotony.

**Chapter Tease: (Yes, this time I do have one)**

"_What happened?!" he demanded and she shook her head, sobbing uncontrollably._

"_He's dead!" she cried. "Oh my God, he's dead!"_


	29. The Road Leading to Death pt 2

_The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it_. **-Oscar Wilde**

* * *

"_Do you remember the first time we shagged?" he asked quietly._

_Ginny turned to look him in the eyes, a small smile on her face. _

"_You mean the first time we made love?"_

_Draco raised an eyebrow. _

"_Really?"_

_Ginny leaned up so that their lips were touching, a coy look on her face. _

"_What about the time we made love?" she asked._

_He looked over her quickly before leaning in and kissing her. A soft gasp escaped her lips as he pushed against her, a brief burst of need flaring up within both of them until he managed to gain control of it and pull away._

"_Ever since then I've wanted to kill myself…"_

A weak gasp escaped Ginny's lips as she woke up and stared at the clock resting on the nightstand beside the bed. It was one p.m. on day two of the Ministerial lock down and already her time with Draco was starting to become distant memories. They caressed her tantalizingly in her sleep and haunted her even in his presence. The idea of him leaving was starting to sink in and with it the horrible realization that what was happening now would end at any moment.

Clutching the soft sheets close to her, she rolled over to see that Draco was gone, leaving behind a cold, unforgiving pillow. She lay there for a while, staring at the empty space and trying to figure out how this was going to end.

She knew beyond a doubt that there was no way of swaying Draco from killing Greyback and in the process killing himself. The look in his eyes had made that very clear.

But there had to be a reason for him being here… if his only purpose for coming back to England was to commit suicide, then he would have destroyed Greyback by now. No… there had to be a reason for postponing such a destructive plan. Whether it was her or not was yet to be decided. Draco had an odd way of getting to the point.

Stretching her legs, Ginny winced at how incredibly sore she was. Eleven years of celibacy had not faired well with Draco's impassioned return. Groaning a little as she sat up, she looked around the room and noticed his owl perched near the desk, staring at her through knowing eyes. It turned its head slowly towards the master bedroom door and Ginny sighed.

This meant she would have to walk.

She slowly got to her feet and after getting dressed in some clothes that had been laid out on the couch in the corner; she made her way out of the bedroom and down the long, unfeeling halls of the Malfoy Manor. Paintings stared at her, most remembering who she was while others just snorted and returned to their conversations, uninterested with Draco's new arrival. When she reached down stairs, a house elf approached her and pointed towards the back of the house.

"Master went outside, Miss," she stammered, bowing profusely at Ginny. "If you want your coat, Lissy will get it for you."

Ginny frowned and shook her head, staring in the direction the house elf had pointed.

"No, it's really okay, Lissy. I can get my own coat," she replied but before she could protest, the little creature disapparated and reappeared a moment later with Ginny's coat and boots. Sighing, Ginny took the coat and thanked the house elf before she made her way to the back of the house where the back door was still open. Some snow was inside but there was no wind blowing at the moment and it appeared as if the snow had stopped falling. She quickly shoved on her boots and wrapped her coat tightly around herself before she stepped out into the snow covered gardens of the Malfoy estate. It was much more welcoming in the summer. Now it lay under the daunting shadow of the manor, untouched and unwanted. The grey sky above and the chill of winter only added to the grave atmosphere.

All the beauty and splendor of this unforgiving place was certainly depressing for those who lived long enough to see it endure the seasons.

Ginny took a deep breath of the crisp, misty air and then made her way along the path, following larger footsteps that she assumed were Draco's. She past the main gated area and found herself in a small covered meadow just before the woods, hesitating at the fence and looking around. It was unnerving to see just how sinister the manor looked from where she stood. The shadows seemed to move across snow-covered shrubs like demons struggling to be released. No wind blew and she could not even hear the sound of animals, who avoided this place of death like the plague. Turning, she faced the woods once more and stared at the tracks Draco had left behind. During her stay here eleven years ago, she had made it a point to never return to the forest where her entire life had been dismantled. Draco had respected that wish and they never ventured out here.

However, curiosity overrode her fear and revulsion of the place and she continued on, walking for at least ten minutes through the silent woods before she spotted Draco standing at the edge of a small clearing. His back was to her and he did not turn as she moved to stand beside him quietly, looking around for a moment before she glanced over at him. His jaw was clenched tightly and his eyes unreadable as he stood there, gazing out into the snow. They both stood there for several minutes, lost in time and pain while the outside world failed to gain entry before Ginny broke the calm.

"Is this it?" she asked quietly and he nodded silently. "I didn't know it was this far."

"The arena was under the garden, not under the house," he responded mechanically.

She glanced behind her and frowned. She could no longer see the manor from where she stood and could not help but wonder how she would have found her way here if she had not followed Draco's tracks. "You remember where it happened?"

"You don't?"

She looked up at him.

"I wasn't exactly paying attention to where Blaise was carrying me at that point in time," she replied bitterly but he did not blink. He just pointed to the spot on the other side of the clearing.

"You were over there… with my father," he murmured quietly, but his voice was easy to hear through the stillness around them. His hand moved a little. "Zabini was there." He then pointed to where they stood. "I was right here."

Ginny folded her arms over her chest and shivered a little.

"It was cold," she mumbled in remembrance and he snorted.

"That's not what you said."

Ginny froze at the statement.

"_Draco…" she cried hoarsely, reaching out her hand painfully as if hoping he would take it and hold it. "Help me…"_

Her eyes traveled up to him.

"You never came," she whispered and his eyes finally moved to meet hers. They stared at each other for a moment before she forced herself to look away and she began to make her way to the other side of the clearing, moving along the edge and keeping her eyes on the spot where everything had been taken away from her. She could feel Draco's eyes on her but refused to look at him as she finally reached the spot and knelt down, running her fingers over the snow which had once been stained with her blood.

"Potter found you," Draco replied and she looked over at him.

"At least one of the men I loved did," she said and he leaned against a tree, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I was busy."

"Killing your father?"

Draco snorted.

"I didn't kill my father until after you were found," he responded as he began to approach her.

"Then you just decided to leave me out there?"

"You stopped breathing," he pointed out when he reached her.

Ginny stood up and tilted her head to the side as their faces came close.

"Not even you're that stupid, Draco," she murmured and a smirk came to his face as his eyes moved down to her lips.

"No, I'm not," he said, leaning in and kissing her teasingly. "But I was busy."

She stared at him for a moment before she sighed and began to make her way back towards the Manor.

"You have an excuse for everything, don't you?"

"Always," he called before tilting his head to the side. "You should check and see if you're pregnant."

Ginny stopped in her tracks and her hands instinctively covered her stomach. The statement was so abnormal it took a moment for her to contemplate his meaning before she slowly turned around to face him. The humor in his face only masked the seriousness of his question and added to her terrified confusion.

"What?"

Draco walked right past her with that damned smirk on his face.

"Have you checked to see if you're pregnant?" he asked over her shoulder and she hurried to catch up with him.

"What the hell makes you think I'm pregnant?" she demanded and he snorted.

"Nothing," he replied. "It was just a question."

Ginny grabbed his arm and turned him around to face her, eyes narrowed as she searched his face for answers.

"Why are you so interested?" she demanded and he tilted his head to the side, raising an eyebrow as if the answer were obvious. They stared at each other for a moment before Ginny's eyes narrowed and she took a step away from him in disbelief.

"You're not serious, are you?" she gasped and he shrugged, walking away from her.

"I'm perfectly serious," he called over his shoulder. Her eyes grew in shock and a gasp escaped her lips.

"Don't you have _any_ shame?!" she stammered as he continued on his path towards the manor.

"I married you."

Ginny ran over to him and stood directly in front of him, blocking his way.

"That's not funny, Draco," she hissed. She pointed between them. "_This_ isn't funny. You can't just _trap_ me here so that you can have your way with me and then _impregnate_-"

Draco leaned in and caught her lips in a kiss. Ginny tried to pull away but his fingers curled around her arms and held her still. After a moment, she released a growl of frustration and pulled away, hitting him hard in the arm.

"If you think for a moment that your _lips_ are going to keep me from being-"

"I didn't _trap_ you here to do anything, Weasley," he snapped before she could continue on her rant. He leaned in so that their faces were a hairsbreadth apart. "I just suggested that you see if you're pregnant. It's the responsible thing to do, right?"

Ginny opened her mouth to contradict him, but something told her he was being honest with her and a sudden fear struck her. Biting her lip, she turned and headed back to the manor, wringing her hands fretfully.

Was it possible for her to be pregnant?

Magical potions were good at telling if someone was pregnant before a missed period, but was she brash enough to try and see after one day of passionate lovemaking to a man she was supposed to hate?

"Oh bloody hell," she muttered and picked up her pace. "This is a complete mess!"

* * *

After a very wild and unconventional night of wanton and extremely satisfying shags, mixed only with the briefest of breaks to catch one's breath, Rachel Attingwood collapsed on top of Colin Rockwell, gasping for air and grinning as he swore a little. His sweat covered chest moved up and down heavily and she sighed when she heard his heart pounding against his chest, further verifying the knowledge of effect she had on him. Her eyes closed when his hands began to move up and down her sleek back soothingly and after a minute of harsh breathing, she managed to raise her head up and kiss his chest and neck, giving gratitude for the night's lovemaking. She would have said something but at the moment, she was too exhausted at the moment.

In the other room of the Hogsmeade flat they could hear Catherine shriek and the bedposts groan right before silence reigned as she and Goyle finished their little session.

"It sounds like they had fun," Rockwell mumbled, running his hand through her hair lazily. She did not bother moving off of him, knowing that her minute frame was not bothering him in the least.

"Hmm…" she hummed, enjoying the vibrations of his chest when he spoke and the warmth his body provided as they both lay there naked in his bed.

"Hmmm… That's all you can say?"

"I've had fun with Goyle before. It's wonderful, but not exactly as satisfying," she murmured into his skin.

A deep laugh rumbled in Rockwell's chest and her heart warmed at the feeling. She wanted him to do it again.

"Funny," he muttered. "I was thinking the same about Catherine."

"Then I suppose we're all perfect for each other," she replied quietly. "Goyle's probably asleep."

"And your sister is probably taking a shower."

Rachel raised her head up and looked at him.

"Why are we talking about the love lives of our former partners?"

He chuckled and captured her lips in a teasing kiss. She released a groan and moved a bit closer, opening her lips to his in a much more seducing exchange. After a couple of minutes, Rockwell pulled away and rested his head back down on the pillow, unable to keep his head up any longer.

"I don't know…"

A luscious, inviting smile appeared on Rachel's face as she grabbed the top of the headboard and raised herself up so that she was hovering over Rockwell.

"Ready for another go?" she asked, grinning at the way his eyes moved to her breasts. From the way he was looking at her, she did not really need an answer.

"Not yet," he muttered breathlessly, wanting nothing more than to feel her again. But their last romp, which had started in the kitchen, had worn him out completely and he needed time to get his bearings. In all honesty, he should have been down in the streets, looking for any suspicious activity besides his own. With the Ministry on high alert and no way to contact the others, he should have been more careful. Rachel had been the one to stop him.

His eyes closed when she ground herself fully into him and his hands instantly snapped to her hips as his breathing began to quicken. He tried to slow her movements but the position she was in gave her more leverage to do as she wanted. What she wanted was to have him again.

"Damn it, Rachel," he growled as she continued to move her hips against him relentlessly. She was going to kill him with this. "Give me a moment."

He somehow managed to stop her moving completely and that only made things worse. Sweat rolled off of her skin as her grip on the headboard tightened and her breathing became labored. With one hand she tried to move his hands away but he grabbed it and pressed it to his chest, forcing her to feel his heart beat against his ribcage, which only heightened her awareness of him.

"Oh bloody hell," she gasped, her back arching as pressure began to build in the pit of her stomach. The sweet torture of it all was becoming too much for her to handle. She needed to feel him and he was making that complicated. "Colin, please…"

She tried to wriggle out of his grasp and that only caused more friction, making her eyes close and inaudible pleas to escape her lips. His hands moved up her sides, pushing her away from the headboard so he could sit up, which increased the volatility of the situation. Their eyes met for a moment and she ran a hand down his face lovingly before leaning in to his ear.

"Please," she murmured, wrapping her legs around his waist so that she had more control over everything. She felt his lips move down her neck and the moment he began pulling at her skin, she could no longer keep in that one position and thus it began. Slowly at first, but both their bodies were unable to handle such a delicate flow and soon their lovemaking became aggressive and fiery.

"NO!!!!"

Rockwell and Rachel broke away from each other in a startled heap. Rockwell immediately snatched up his wand from under the pillow while Rachel grabbed the steak knife from the plate on the nightstand as well as her wand. She then tossed Rockwell his boxers while she shoved on a large shirt before they headed for the door. More screaming ensued and it was all coming from Catherine. The couple ran out of the bedroom and into the next room.

"Oh my God!" Rachel gasped.

On the bed was Goyle's body, ripped and bleeding from every orifice while Catherine sat there sobbing hysterically in nothing but a bloody towel. On the floor there was a dead man. Blood was everywhere.

"NO!!" she screamed, clinging to Goyle as she buried her head in a pillow. "NO!"

Before Rachel could run to her sister, Rockwell grabbed her arm in a bruising grip and yanked her back, eyes blazing.

"Contact Malfoy," he snarled, shoving her back to the hall. She sprinted down the hall to the door and yanked it open.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" she yelled and a tiger shot out, barreling its way out of sight. When she arrived back at the bedroom, Rockwell was dragging Catherine away from the bed, ignoring her pleas for him to stop. He took her into the hall and pinned her against the wall.

"What happened?!" he demanded and she shook her head, sobbing uncontrollably.

"He's dead!" she cried. "Oh my God, he's dead!"

He pulled her back and then slammed her into the wall again, ignoring Rachel's whimpers at the treatment.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!"

Catherine released another sob.

"I was leaving!" she shrieked. "I was taking a shower and… Gregory fell asleep… I came out and that THING!" she pointed to the dead body on the floor. "HE WAS THERE! That bastard killed Gregory!"

Rockwell released her and turned to the bedroom, seething inside. This was all wrong. Greyback was not supposed to attack…

But he did…

"Colin," Rachel whimpered.

"Shut up," he muttered. He had no time to listen to her.

"Colin-"

"I said shut up!" he snarled and she shrunk back into the wall, clinging to her crying sister.

_BOOM!_

The front door shattered into pieces and two hooded men appeared down the hall, wands at the ready. Rockwell grabbed Catherine and Rachel and before either one could scream, he disapparated.

* * *

Ginny sat on the edge of the bathroom counter, staring down at her pale legs that poked out from underneath the towel she was wearing. She continuously glanced over at the small vials of cologne and other vials that were on the counter by the sink, biting her lip as she waited for him to reappear.

She had been in the shower earlier, but Draco's enthusiasm had grown too much for her so she left him in there and now she sat there waiting. When they had come back from the forest, she had found what she had been looking for to test Draco's theory and after she had used it, she had found a towel and sat herself down on the bathroom counter, breathing in the hot mist that poured out from the shower Draco was still enjoying without her. It had taken several minutes for her to calm herself down, but afterwards she knew that this was how it was supposed to happen…

She knew he already knew by the way he had remained silent about her sudden and rather haphazard flight from his arms out of the shower, but she was glad he did not say anything to her about it.

They did not need to talk about it…

Not now…

Probably not ever…

It would be an understanding between the two of them and that was it…

Finally the shower turned off and he stepped out. Her eyes fell on him and in that moment her heart started to race madly as she contemplated shoving him back into the shower and starting from where they had left off when she had stumbled out.

He was perfect…

Like a Greek god stepping out from the ocean, dripping wet yet even more defined by that fact…

Draco caught her eyeing him and smirked at the obvious lust in her brown eyes as she bit her lip to hold back the tempting feeling to pounce on him. He could see her flexing her muscles, as if testing them to see if she was strong enough to have another go.

The real question was whether or not he was strong enough…

However, instead of saying something and embarrassing her, he ended up wrapping a towel around himself before he moved over to the sink, ignoring her completely.

She didn't mind.

His silver eyes fell on the vials on the counter as well, as if trying to figure out which one was the best contestant. Most of them were of the same nature, containing nice smelling fragrances that he barely wore. Two of them contained something he'd rather not think about.

One of them was deadly and the other contained the answer he did not need from Ginny.

Those two vials were close to Ginny and for a moment he contemplated using the deadly one on her.

His eyes fell on the one Ginny had used; a light blue compound that taunted him mercilessly.

If something had to go right since they had arrived from the Ministry, it had to be that…

Ginny watched him for a while before she went back to her dangling legs.

Draco's eyes finally fell on her and he surveyed her before turning his eyes to his arms, where there were several raised red marks bruising. A ghost of a smile came to his face as he remembered how they got there.

"You're rough," he commented casually, running a finger over the scratches.

"You're an arse," she muttered.

"Very feisty. Did I push you too much back there?" he asked.

Ginny ignored him, wanting him to shut up about the very passionate and very aggressive display of love she had shown towards him in the shower.

"You know, if we ever go back to the shower, I'd like to try something different-"

"Oh _bloody hell_," Ginny grumbled miserably, causing him to laugh at her discomfort.

It always amused him, even after eleven years, she would still be irritable and uncomfortable when talking about her response to the incredible sex they had always had. The funny thing was that she never acted this way when he used to talk about their love life in front of his cohorts. Just when they talked about it amongst themselves.

"You're wound up a bit too tightly. Perhaps we should go back to the shower now and-"

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Oh will you _shut up_," she snapped before her lips formed a thin pale line, her eyes widening at her sudden and unwarranted fit. She stared at him for a moment, noticing his eyes darken at her words before she looked away, going back to staring at her legs.

Draco watched her for a while, remaining silent as he went over everything that had happened and was happening between them.

She was starting to get nervous, though he did not blame her. After what she had just discovered about herself, he knew she would start acting funny.

He did not figure it would start so quickly.

"Are you afraid?" he asked quietly.

She closed her eyes and shook her head, droplets of water sprinkling from her wet hair.

"No… I'm happy," she whispered.

"You certainly look happy," he observed and she looked up at him.

"I was happy a few minutes ago in the shower, I wasn't bouncing up and down, smiling and laughing like a moron."

Draco smirked.

"_No_, but you couldn't really smile… or laugh… _bounce_ maybe-"

She hit him in the arm, her face growing red at the unnecessarily crass innuendo. He grabbed her hand before she could pull away and stepped in between her legs, pulling her right up against him as she continued to sit on the counter.

"You really don't want to start hitting me," he said.

Ginny looked him straight into his eyes and trembled at the honesty in the frightening grey eyes.

"Why?" she asked, feeling his grip on her tighten.

Draco leaned in and kissed her neck, his hand slipping under her towel and moving across her hip with deliberate slowness. He could hear her breathing becoming more labored as he moved further up her leg.

"I'd rather just show you," he whispered.

"Oh my God," she gasped as his hand grabbed her thigh roughly and thrust her fully against him, his arousal becoming all too real and much too hard to ignore. "Draco…"

He let out a frustrated growl when she tried to move and ended up causing more pleasurable fiction between them. Ginny released a loud groan and her nails dug into his skin as she struggled to maintain some remnant of mind.

"What?" he murmured into her skin.

She ran her hands down his smooth chest, resting them on the rim of the towel, tugging on it a little.

"I want you," she whispered, closing her eyes as a quick jolt of pleasure shot up her spine from his touch. "Please…"

That really was the magic word.

Draco grabbed her up in his arms aggressively, their bodies reacting instantly to each other as their breathing became more labored. Ginny let out a groan before leaning in and kissing him forcefully on the mouth, wrapping her arms around his neck as he thrust her firmly against him. Draco hefted her up, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist, making their situation even more volatile. His lips left hers to move down her neck, biting her skin aggressively and inducing strangled cries to erupt from her lips as he continued his stimulating ministrations.

Ginny couldn't handle the mounting pressure within her anymore and shoved him away from her, panting desperately for air as he held her up in his arms. Draco released a growl and was about to lean in to kiss her again, but she stopped him with a finger to his lips, her eyes blazing with a feral need that intensified his want. She looked absolutely sexy as her disheveled auburn hair fell over her face and down her shoulders. Her lips were bruised and luscious, and he wanted nothing more than to devour her.

"The shower," she hissed, running her hands through his hair and pulling him closer.

Draco nodded quickly, running his hands up and down her back. Their lips met quickly and their tongues sparred playfully while Ginny's hands traveled lower down his body. Ginny's need took a turn for the better, in Draco's opinion, when she moved away from his lips and began chewing on his ear, muttering to herself.

"Damn it, Draco," she growled, growing increasingly impatient with his lack of movement. The idea of staying at the counter was not an option for her. She much more preferred the feeling of their bodies pressing against each other under the intense spray of hot water as they made love. It was much more pleasurable. "The shower."

* * *

"How much longer are we going to be here?" Reilly demanded as she, Rayne and Trent meandered through the streets of Hogsmeade. They had spent the night at the Three Broomsticks because according to local Aurors, Hogwarts was inaccessible. After eating breakfast there, the three had decided to leave the crowded place for a while and stretch their legs. Much to Trent's displeasure, Hanna had left quickly with Gordon and he had not seen her since.

"I'm sure they're finding a way to get all these students out of here. I can't stand being around all those people for much longer," Rayne replied, glancing over at Trent. When she caught the distant look in his eyes, she nudged him and leaned in so that only he could hear her. "Have you talked to Hanna yet?"

He shook his head and sighed.

"She ran off right after breakfast and that prick of a boyfriend was with her," he grumbled.

"Well, she did kiss you last night. That's got to count for something, right?"

"I don't know… Quinn's still in the picture and I don't feel comfortable getting in the middle of that," he told her and Rayne snorted.

"Getting in the middle? You blatantly told her that her boyfriend was a wanker and then tried to kill him in the bathroom a few minutes later," she said. "I think it's a little late for putting yourself in the middle of things."

Trent frowned and glanced over at her.

"Speaking of boyfriend, what happened between you and Nicholas?" he asked. "You haven't mentioned his name once since we've been here and you don't seem to worried about him."

Rayne looked over at Reilly quickly and coughed.

"Um, Reilly, could you give Trent and I a moment?" she asked and Reilly groaned.

"I don't want to be here by myself," she complained. Rayne rolled her eyes and pointed to a bench a few meters away.

"Just wait over there. We'll be right back," she responded before tugging Trent off towards the new Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. When she was sure they were out of Reilly's earshot, she turned to her friend. "Nicholas… he killed some one," she confessed and Trent's eyes bulged.

"What?!"

Rayne grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side, shushing him heatedly.

"Be quiet!" she hissed. "I don't need everyone in this town knowing."

"But he-"

"I can't believe you!" Hanna screamed as she exited a café. Gordon came out right after her, knocking over a small child on his way out. Hanna looked appalled by his behavior and turned to the child, helping her out. "I'm sorry," she apologized to the mother before giving Gordon a very hateful glare. "Stay away from me."

"You don't know what you're talking about, Hanna," Gordon snapped, grabbing her arm and pulling him back to her. "Nothing happened!"

Rayne and Trent started in shock as Hanna smacked her boyfriend across the face.

"Nora told me you were a prick and I can't believe I didn't believe her," she hissed, yanking her arm out of his grip. "You've been cheating on me the whole time!"

"That girl's a bloody liar, Hanna," Gordon growled. "She's just trying to get me in trouble! None of it's true."

"She said you two had sex during the Halloween Ball!" she shrieked. "I barely saw you during the whole thing!"

"That doesn't mean I was off shagging some tart!" he retorted. "Why the hell would I cheat on you?"

"Trent said that you were only interested in having sex with me and I'm starting to believe that," Hanna replied somewhat hesitantly and Rayne glanced over at her friend, biting her lip. Gordon looked incensed at this point.

"Trent! That stupid little sixth year git you've been hanging around with lately?" he snarled and Hanna backed away from him, a distressed look on her face. "You believe _him?_"

Hanna shoved her hair out of her face and began to leave.

"I think it would be best if you and I didn't see each other anymore," she said over her shoulder and he grabbed her again, causing Trent to take a step forward, but Rayne stopped him. The couple was already having a hard time. If he interfered, things would probably get worse.

"Just because that little bastard told you I was cheating on you?!" Gordon yelled angrily.

Hanna glared at him.

"No. Because for the past few months I've realized that I'd rather be with a stupid little sixth year git than waste my time with you," she spat. Hanna pulled away from him and began to walk down the street. It was only then that she saw Trent and Rayne standing there.

"Trent," she gasped. "Oh…"

"You little prick!" Gordon raged and charged at them. Rayne whipped out her wand the very next instant and the large boy went flying across the street into a crowd of girls, who all scattered when they saw him coming. Several adults watched on in disbelief and disapproval. Ignoring the looks she was getting, Rayne tucked her wand in the back of her pants and motioned to where they had left Reilly.

"I'll be over there," she muttered and was about to go when she caught sight of the bench and frowned. "Reilly… ugh! Reilly!" She ran over to the bench and looked around anxiously. "Reilly! Where are you?!"

* * *

Hermione opened her eyes when Ron came into his office. After it had been made clear that they would not be leaving the Ministry soon, Ron had suggested that she get rest on his couch and she had been there all night while he dealt with security issues. She watched as he walked over to his desk and sat down heavily, releasing a sigh and rubbing his eyes. Through the dim lighting, she could tell that he was exhausted, physically and mentally, and it was very concerning.

"Have you slept at all?" she asked and he looked over to where she lay.

"Oh… I didn't know you were awake," he muttered, sitting up straighter in his chair. "I'm fine. Just a little tired, is all."

"Have you slept?" Hermione asked again and he sighed.

"Hermione, I'm fine, please don't worry," he begged as he began to shift papers around on his desk. "The Minister's secure in his office but now they're saying that someone's in the building."

Hermione sat up, alarm all over her face.

"In the Ministry?"

He nodded and looked over at her.

"That's why they haven't reopened the Floo yet. It's a mess, especially since they think the person's in the Department of Mysteries," he told her.

"But shouldn't we be somewhere a bit safer?" Hermione asked and Ron shook his head.

"Ever since we went down there in fifth year, the Department of Ministry has only had one entrance. If there is someone down there, they can only get out the way they came in."

"You don't seem too worried about this, Ron."

He could see the worry in Hermione's eyes and sighed. Standing up, he moved over to the couch and sat down beside her, taking her hands in his.

"Hermione, we've been through worse and survived," he whispered, kissing her temple. "Of course I'm worried about Sara, but… This whole thing is just some big power play by some restless Death Eater fraction that's pathetic enough to still be around."

"A power play?"

Ron smiled and shrugged.

"Those were Moody's words, not mine," he told her before getting up and going back to his desk. "We'll probably be out by tonight, Hermione. They can't keep this many people in here for this long. It'll only create bigger problems."

* * *

"How long are you going to be doing that?" Draco asked when he entered the room to find Ginny lying in bed, face in a pillow as she cried. After she had found out she was indeed pregnant, she had been doing quite a bit of that and it was starting to become very taxing on his nerves. He had enough pressure, he did not need Ginny Weasley sobbing every other minute.

"Go to hell," was her choked reply.

Draco nodded and moved to his desk, pulling out a piece of parchment and quill. He jotted something down quickly before giving it to an extremely old Judas, who flew out the window with the letter.

"Who was that for?"

He looked over to the bed to see her sitting up in it, clinging to the sheets tightly as she watched him.

"Redman."

"Philip Redman? The man who was supposed to make sure we were divorced?"

"Yes," he said, sitting down at the desk.

"Why?"

Draco looked out the window.

"Because certain people need to be protected…"

He had not heard her move until she was right in front of him, sheets wrapped around her body as she got up on the chair, straddling him.

"How protected?" she asked softly.

He reached up and pried her hands away from the sheets, watching as they pooled around her glorious hips and thighs, exposing her torso to him. For a moment he just stared at her, unable to pull his eyes away from the undeniable vulnerability of the moment. His hands moved up and touched her skin lightly, tracing the smooth contours of her breasts and stomach with such cruel deliberateness that she could not help but close her eyes and release a breathless 'yes' at the feel of his fingers. Upon her reaction, he leaned in and kissed the spot between her breasts lightly before pulling her to him and resting his face in the crook of her neck.

They were quiet for a while, neither of them moving as they submerged themselves in each others warmth.

"Forgive me…"

Ginny tensed at the words and she pulled away to look into his eyes.

"What?"

"Forgive me…"

"For what?"

His eyes roved over her briefly before he looked back up into her eyes.

"For what I've done…"

Ginny nodded, her eyes filling up with tears as she leaned in and kissed him, pressing herself as close as she could. She shivered when she felt his arms move around her waist, crushing her to him. She sighed into his mouth as his hands moved up and down her back before she buried her face in his chest as he held her close.

For a few minutes they just sat there, listening to each other breathe. Ginny then smiled when she caught sight of his arms.

"How are your arms feelings?" she asked quietly into his chest. She felt his arms tighten around her and she sighed into him, loving the security of it all.

"Like a woman scratched me mercilessly because I gave her the time of her life," he replied into her hair.

She reached out and touched one of the scratches, biting her lips at how bad they were.

"Does it hurt?"

"Malfoys don't feel pain."

Ginny snorted.

"Yeah, right," she muttered.

"You know, you're unpleasant after we make love," he commented.

"You're one to talk."

"I don't remember Pansy ever being so talkative. Well, she did scream-"

This time, Draco actually groaned under the force of her kiss. Everything about what she was doing was unbelievable and it took him a few minutes to recover from the shock. By that time, Ginny had pulled away from him again and rested her head and hands against his chest, closing her eyes as she tried to calm herself down.

She wanted him so badly, but at this moment she was unsure of whether or not her body would be able to handle the force and passion of him.

He had always been too much for her to handle and when he got it in his head about what he wanted, he sometimes pushed her too hard…

After a few minutes, her breathing calmed significantly and her mind cleared.

"Your one regret?" she asked after a while.

Ginny felt Draco laugh and she raised her head to see actual laughter in his grey eyes.

"My one regret?" he repeated. "My one and _only_ regret is you… you shouldn't have been with me…"

Ginny bit her lip.

"Why?"

Draco snorted.

"You were looking for someone who wasn't Potter… and as much as I loathe to say this, you've fallen in love with someone who is _exactly_ like him…" he said with disgust in his voice. "Suicidal, self-absorbed, vengeful… Except, of course, without the ugliness and green eyes…"

Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, I forgot about that," she whispered. "As for being self-absorbed, I think that was just you…"

Draco shook his head.

"I am not _that_ self-absorbed," he muttered.

Ginny laughed at that.

"Not that self-absorbed? You think you're God's gift to woman kind!"

"Just because I like to state the truth does not mean I'm self-absorbed."

Ginny started laughing harder, burying her face in his chest as she tried to control herself.

"You're impossible," she mumbled into his cool skin as he ran a hand up and down her back leisurely, smirking at her amusement.

Somewhere inside of him, he was happy that she had given up on trying to stop him and had accepted what was happening. He was glad that she still found something to laugh about…

Even if it was about him…

"I'm glad you think that," he muttered, leaning down and kissing the top of her head as she continued to shake with mirth. "It's not that funny."

Ginny sucked in some air quickly and bit her lip to keep from laughing anymore before she raised her head to look at him.

"Sorry, you're right, it's not funny," she muttered, trying to stifle a smile. "You just compared yourself to Harry Potter, that's not funny at all."

Draco rolled his eyes as she started laughing again in his lap. She leaned in and kissed his neck as she struggled to stop laughing.

"What is wrong with you?" he asked.

Ginny shrugged.

"I guess I'm still a bit elated from the bathroom," she muttered and he instantly sobered up. She smiled at that, knowing this was hurting him more that he cared to let on. She took a deep breath and decided to go back to the conversation that had started her laughing fest. "So, if I'm not supposed to have the suicidal, _self-absorbed_, vengeful type, then what type of man should have I been looking for?"

He ran a hand down her side, eyes resting on her stomach.

"Someone boring… someone who hasn't killed people…" he whispered. "Someone more innocent than you…"

Ginny bit her lip, a slight twinge of guilt flooding her.

"Someone like Jason?"

Draco shrugged and leaned in, running his lips over her body like liquid fire before she stopped him, breathing hard. He looked into her eyes and saw her give him a look to stop… she wasn't ready to start _that_ again…

He sighed.

"Yeah, I suppose… _a pansy_," he muttered bitterly.

Ginny laughed.

"I have to marry a pansy next?" she asked incredulously.

Draco smirked, leaning in and kissing her.

"Anyone after me is going to be a pansy," he whispered.

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"I married a prat," she muttered before they kissed again.

Draco smirked into the kiss.

"Yes, but at least I'm not a sodding pansy."

Ginny could not help the laugh that escaped her before she pulled away from him to look him in the eye. The amusement that had once again found itself in her eyes was breathtaking to him and he could not help but lean in and their lips a hairsbreadth apart.

"You're incorrigible…"

Before she could react his lips were on her devouring every piece of bare skin he could reach…

Her mouth…

Her neck…

Her shoulders…

_Everywhere…_

She was panting so hard that she was quickly going to pass out. His hands were roaming her greedily, grabbing and caressing her burning body until she thought she was going to shatter into a million pieces under the power of his touch. He coaxed a deep moan out of her before he covered her mouth with his, muting her as they continued to lose themselves in each other.

Suddenly Draco pulled away quickly, touching his lip and looking down at the blood that stained his fingertips. Ginny gasped before covering her mouth with a hand, eyes widening as she stared at his bleeding lip.

Their eyes met and she blushed under the hilarity that filled his eyes. For a moment Ginny just stared at him, unsure of what to say then she jerked and reached out to touch his lip.

"Draco, I didn't-"

His lips met hers with more aggression and desperation than ever before as he crushed her to him. Ginny could hardly breathe against him and after a moment she yanked away from him, gasping for air, her chest heaving as he watched her with lust pulsating in his stone grey eyes. She closed her eyes and took a moment to calm herself down.

After a minute she leaned back in and kissed him gently on the lips, taunting him mercilessly before she pushed the robe Draco was wearing off his shoulders and moved her lips down his neck to his chest, running her fingertips over his cool abdomen, marveling in his body as he pulled her impossibly closer.

"We need to slow down, Draco," she gasped. "We need-"

Ignoring her completely, he cut her off with a kiss that left her begging for more and forgetting her previous words. One of his hands moved forcefully up her thigh while the other roamed up her side and cupped her breast, causing her to tear away from his lips and release a rousing moan that only intensified his need for her. She ended up dragging her nails down his back as his lips left hers and couldn't help but sink his teeth into her burning skin.

"Draco please," Ginny pleaded. "Please!"

There was a sudden loud crack and they reluctantly pulled away from each other and turned to see a small house elf standing there.

Ginny pulled the sheets back up to her chest, blushing violently and looking away from both Draco and the equally embarrassed elf, heart racing as she felt his arms pull her to him possessively.

The elf was so embarrassed that she dropped the firewhiskey bottle she was supposed to bring up to the room. She then began apologizing profusely, bowing so low that her tea cozy fell of.

Draco sighed, annoyed with all the bumbling elves. Did they do this on purpose or did someone out there really just not want him to enjoy his time with the redhead.

"Snap out of it and tell me what's wrong," he snapped.

"Sir, Mr. Redman is here, sir. He is waiting downstairs for you."

Draco nodded and the elf disapparated, leaving him and Ginny in the room. The moment they were alone, Ginny turned to Draco with a curious look on her face.

"How is it that your lawyer got here without blowing up?" she asked and he shrugged.

"He knows the right path."

"How come I don't know the right path?" she asked and he snorted.

"Because you're not my lawyer." He took a deep breath and motioned to the door. "I have to take care of this," he whispered.

Ginny bit her lip and nodded.

"So it's really happening," she murmured sadly.

Draco nodded, gently pushing her off of him, forcing her to stand as he stood up as well.

"I have to."

She shook her head.

"No you don't…"

Draco sighed and leaned into her, brushing his lips gently across hers. She responded quickly, leaning into him and deepening the kiss. They stood there for a moment before Draco pulled the sheets tightly around her and pulled away.

He glanced over to the bed.

"Get some rest," he whispered. "This is going to take a while…"

**A/N: Okay, I promise to do more of the kids in the next one. Scouts' honor! (holding up three fingers) **

**The Darkest wizard:** There are a lot of people who need to survive. Draco's plans are pretty much set, but I could be swayed… maybe…

**tamara72:** I was honestly going to put a scene with Remus right after this last scene, but I realized that this chapter was starting to get a bit long, so I'll most definitely put it in for the next chapter! Promise! I'll see if I can put Harry in as well, but that all depends on how long I want Ginny and Draco to stay together.

**Alsy:** I think that was sort of what I wanted everyone to think about Draco in Semper Fidelis. Ginny, as I've mentioned a couple of times in this chapter and the previous chapter, still cares deeply about Jason (despite her very unconventional actions) and that chapter sort of put Draco in a bad light because he was the one who was ruining it for her. I'm so glad you like Jason. My purpose in this story is to get the readers to be okay with Ginny being with someone other than Draco and I really wanted you all to like Jason so that when this finally came around, everyone wouldn't be as angry as many people were at the beginning. Like I said before, I will definitely put Landon in the next chapter. Full moon lasts (visibly) for about two to three days. (So I have time!)

**FreezingFire81:** We'll see about Draco. He's not dead yet.

**realityfling18:** I love writing the parts with Ginny and Draco because despite the fact that they love each other, they can still be incredibly mean and standoffish, even after they've made love. It's really fun to write their dialogue.

**purplegabby123:** Thanks! I hope you liked this one as well.

**Sorry, no chapter tease. This one was too long and I just finished it.**


	30. Black Roses and Lullabies

_I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime._ **–Elisabeth Kubler-Ross**

* * *

It was still light outside when the old man at the desk finished the final touches to the papers he had spent the last couple of hours revising. The man sitting nearby had watched him carefully through expressionless eyes as he gripped a glass of firewhiskey, drinking the amber liquid occasionally. The man at the desk then looked up and turned the papers for Draco Malfoy to see.

Draco set down his glass and looked over them quickly before signing them and handing them back to the man. The man looked them over again before nodding and placing them carefully in his brief case. He then held out his hand to Draco.

"Mr. Malfoy," he said coolly.

"Redman," Draco replied, a detached look in his eye.

Philip Redman sighed and left the study, leaving Draco to his thoughts.

So this was how it was going to end… this was how he was going to end…

Sighing, he placed his cool glass of firewhiskey against his temple and closed his eyes.

"Damn it," he swore bitterly. All of this because of a simple curiosity in something he should have never come close to. The feel of her body and the affirmations of her love for him only solidified his feelings on what he was going to do.

Death had never been something that wavered him in any way. He had seen what impending death or the death of loved ones had done to the minds of those who had once been impenetrable and it only confirmed his conclusion that the fear of death was something that could never be tolerated. The worries one normally undergoes when dealing with death was not a bother to him. Those left behind after his passing would be taken care of appropriately.

Taking a deep breath, he swilled the amber liquid around the glass, watching as the ice clinked against the pricy crystal. For the past eleven years he had had to live with what he had done to her. What his father had done to her and how he had done nothing to stop it until it was too late. Now, all he wanted was peace. Peace from the nightmares and memories that plagued him with her screams and the dead eyes of those he had destroyed. He had given this life all he could offer and hoped beyond everything else that he managed to create something that would last long after the eulogy had been discarded.

"Are you done?"

Draco stiffened and turned around to see Ginny standing at the door, wearing nothing but the black satin sheets from the bed upstairs.

Her hair was a mess and stood out obnoxiously against her sheet white skin. She was biting her lip as she watched him with troubled eyes. She looked vulnerable and he moved over to her quickly, kissing her brow.

"Yes," he whispered into her hair.

She bit her lip and looked down, tugging absentmindedly on his robe.

"It's not fair," she whispered.

"It never is," he replied, pushing her face up so that he could look into her eyes. "It never will be…"

Ginny tried to hold back the tears as she took a shaky breath, leaning in and pressing her lips to his. Draco reacted to her enthusiastically, deepening the kiss as he moved closer to her. He pressed her against the door, kissing her heatedly. She groaned into his mouth but stopped him when his hands reached through the sheets and touched her stomach.

"Draco," she gasped as he pulled away to look into her watery eyes.

He smirked.

"You weren't so jumpy two days ago," he said and her ears burned as she stood a bit straighter against him.

"Well, two days ago I wanted to kill you," she murmured, pain filling her voice as she spoke. "And you were more randy."

Draco leaned into her and brushed his lips against hers, moving a hand around her small waist to pull her body close to his. He then began to leave teasing kisses down her jaw and up to the skin under her ear.

"I was suicidal then too… you just didn't know it yet," he whispered into her ear, causing her to shiver against him.

Ginny bit her lip as her eyes filled with tears again.

Draco sighed.

She'd been crying all day and he was getting a bit sick of it.

Not that she didn't have a reason to cry…

He just was tired of seeing her cry… especially after they had just spent quiet a few passionate hours making love to each other earlier on that day.

"Could you _please_ stop crying?" he muttered. "You make me feel inept."

Ginny let out a watery laugh as she ran a pale hand over the part of his chest that was exposed from under the robe before resting her hands on his arms.

"You are definitely _not_ inept," she muttered, her small smile disappearing again as she looked away from him and into the large marble foyer.

Draco ran a hand up and down her back as she clutched the covers close to her chest, chewing her lip fearfully. He leaned into her ear, nipping it gently. He closed his eyes as he regretted the words he was about to say.

"I'm sorry," he whispered and he heard her let out a startled gasp. Her grip on his arms tightened. When she didn't respond, he pulled away a little to see the tears in her eyes again, trailing down her cheeks silently.

"Bloody hell," he grumbled.

Letting out a frustrated sigh he pulled away from her and took her hand, leading her back upstairs to his bedroom. As they walked down the long halls of Malfoy Manor, Ginny moved closer to him to keep away the bad memories of years past.

"You don't have to do this," she whispered as they entered his enormous room.

"Yes I do and you know it," he answered, watching as she stopped at the window looking out to the massive backyard, trying to get her thoughts collected.

Draco watched her silently, his eyes catching every movement and his ears catching every sigh as she stood in his bedroom, wearing nothing but sheets and crying quietly in her own dying world.

It was only a couple hours earlier when they had been making love to each other…

And now…

Everything had changed…

She had changed…

Despite the tears and the paleness, she was beautiful… she was a vision…

He moved over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him so that her back rested against his chest, his lips moving across her shoulder and up her neck quickly.

"You didn't have to stay."

Ginny closed her eyes and covered the hands he had over her stomach with hers.

"Yes I did…" she murmured, leaning into his chest and taking a shaky breath. "It wasn't going to end that way…"

He turned her around and leaned against the wall, observing her with a look she had not seen in a long time. When she had seen it the first time, it had been after the lunch at the Manor when Draco had taken her back to her cell… and it had been fleeting.

But now…

It seemed as if it would not go away.

The pure, unadulterated pain that seemed impossible for one man to carry himself… yet here he was… carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"I suppose it wasn't," he finally said.

She smiled up at him.

"I guess you have become Harry," she whispered.

Draco rolled his eyes in disgust.

"Ugh," he sneered. "Haven't we done enough comparison between me and that tosser?"

A weird look crossed her face before she spoke.

"He's dying, you know," she murmured.

Draco's eyes darkened temporarily before he looked around the room.

"I know."

Ginny froze for a moment before she pulled away and looked up at him.

"What?" she demanded.

"I know he's dying," he repeated and she frowned.

"You know?" she muttered. "How do you _know_?"

There was a brief pause before he looked down at her, his eyes over her face.

"He told me."

She hesitated, unsure of how to respond to such a statement. Harry had told her that he had not told anyone. Not even Ron and Hermione were supposed to know. How was it possible that Draco Malfoy knew that he was dying?

"When?"

"Christmas."

"When at Christmas?" she asked and he snorted.

"When we were supposed to be snogging," he answered and she paled.

"Why?"

Draco shrugged.

"I haven't the foggiest idea. Apparently people do funny things when they're about to die."

"He's married," she snapped.

"And pregnant," Draco added and Ginny gave him a surprised look.

"How-"

Draco rolled his eyes.

"Not Potter," he corrected. "The little thing he brought to the Burrow is pregnant."

Ginny was silent for a moment before she looked down at her hands.

"He has a few more months," Ginny whispered sullenly and he turned to her.

"Good. Then our funerals won't be close together. I'd hate to see the amount of people crying because they had to pass up seeing Potter's carcass."

Ginny's eyes darkened significantly and she hit him hard in the arm.

"I would go to Harry's funeral instead of yours," she hissed.

"Well, hell hath no fury," Draco muttered, leaning in to kiss her neck while his hands slipped in between her sheets. She rolled her eyes and pulled away.

"You're impossible," she snapped. "You're about to go kill yourself and all you can think about is sex."

Draco's eyes roved over her quickly and a smirk appeared on his face.

"True."

Ginny smiled, watching as the desire built between them. She ran a hand down his face and watched as his eyes closed momentarily. She marveled at her affect on him after so long and after everything that had been said between them.

One thing that would forever remain a mystery was how Ginny managed to get Draco Malfoy to, for one minute, trust someone else…

At that thought, Ginny's mind went to Jason and she bit her lip, withdrawing her hand from Draco. His eyes opened and he saw the slight distress in her eyes.

"What is it now?" he asked and she shrugged.

"Jason," she whispered. "I've been _horrible_ to him… he's never going to accept this… he'll never forgive me…" A snort escaped her lips and she tugged at his robe a little. "Not that I expect him to…"

Draco stared at her for a moment before leaning in and kissing her under the ear.

"He'll forgive you," he murmured into her skin and she pulled way.

"Sorry if I don't believe the words of a suicidal man," she responded and he tilted his head to the side.

"You think he'll leave you?"

Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"I just spent two days having sex with my supposedly ex-husband," she said. "And on top of that, I'm pregnant. I know your moral compass is a bit screwed, but I still know that something like that is wrong."

Draco snorted and shook his head.

"He's not going to leave you."

"What makes you so sure?"

Draco leaned in and brushed his lips across hers, making her shiver and move closer as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Even without me, your years at Hogwarts would have been messed up because of Potter," he stated. "Then you get involved with me, my father rapes you and you end up having his child… I think a man who gets himself wrapped up in that and wants to marry you even after I show up again sort of speaks for itself." He looked her straight in the eyes. "He has no intention of backing out."

* * *

"I hate it when you stare at me like that," Ginny whispered as she sat up in bed an hour later, bringing the covers up with her to cover her chest while she left her back exposed.

Draco laughed and sat up with her, kissing her shoulders while she pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her head on it as she tried to relax.

"I love it when you stare at me like that," he murmured into her skin.

Ginny enjoyed herself for a couple of minutes, needing time to recuperate from what had happened over the last few hours. Her body was exhausted, yet something deep within her still craved the passion beneath Draco's icy surface.

She waited a while longer before turning her head to look at him. He caught the look in her eyes and stared at her, matching her gaze.

They remained like that for a while before Ginny finally spoke.

"Hey," she murmured.

"Hey," he replied.

"I'm pregnant," she whispered.

Draco nodded slowly, taking a deep breath as he continued to look into her eyes.

"I know," he responded quietly.

Ginny closed her eyes and smiled.

"You would have been a great father," she murmured.

He tilted his head to the side.

"And how would you know that?"

Ginny shrugged.

"Because I know you would have done everything in your power to make sure he didn't become you or your father," she whispered before leaning and kissing him lightly on the lips. When he leaned in for more, she pulled away slightly so that their faces were a hairsbreadth away. "And you were wonderful when I was pregnant…"

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"I was?" he asked humorously.

Ginny nodded while leaving a gentle trail of kisses up his jaw.

"You were great," she whispered into his ear. "You helped me around, you made sure I took my potions and…" she pulled away to look into his eyes. "You rubbed my belly that one time…"

He laughed at that before leaning in to kiss her.

"I rubbed your belly?"

She nodded, pulling away again.

"Yes, you did," she said insistently. "We were lying in bed and you rubbed my belly all night."

Draco shrugged.

"So?"

Ginny smiled at him.

"I used to watch my brothers with their wives when they were pregnant and all of them rubbed their wives bellies… I always thought of the time you did it and how nice it was of you…"

There was a momentary silence before Draco pulled away from her completely to get a better look of her.

"Why are you bringing this up?" he asked, his eyes drawing up a blank look that surprised her.

She shrugged.

"I don't know… I guess I'm just thinking about all the things you won't be able to do…"

"Oh…"

Ginny watched Draco look around the room, lost in his own thoughts. She had not meant to upset him. She just wanted to talk and her pregnancy, obviously, had been the first thing that had been on her mind.

She waited patiently for him to say something, but instead, he turned to her and stared at her for a while before he leaned in and captured her lips in a painstakingly slow and endearing kiss. Ginny cupped his face with her hands and held him close as he began to push her back down onto the sheets, moving on top of her as he did so.

They stayed like that for a couple of seconds before he pulled away and began to move down her body until he reached her stomach. He stopped there and just rested his head there, saying absolutely nothing. Ginny could feel his cool fingers tracing shapes on her abdomen and she smiled when he began to rub her stomach.

However, what happened after that brought tears to her eyes and caused her to laugh at the same time.

He propped himself up on his elbows, leaned down to her stomach and blew obnoxiously into her skin, shaking his head a little to wiggle her stomach at the same time. Ginny could not stop laughing as he did this and continued to laugh even when he stopped.

Draco looked up into her eyes and smirked.

"Should I talk to it too, or was that enough?" he asked curiously.

Ginny could not speak through the tears and laughter and he rolled his eyes, looking back down at her belly.

"If you turn out to be one of those cowardly little Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs, it's going to be because your mother couldn't stop crying the night you were conceived," he muttered.

Ginny rested a hand on her tummy.

"And if he turns out to be a pissy little Slytherin it's going to be because his father was a prick… well, his whole life," she countered merrily.

Draco smiled and leaned up to kiss her.

"I can be a prick now," he murmured into her lips, moving up so that he was fully on top of her. "I can be a very _big_ prick."

Ginny laughed again as he began to kiss her neck.

"Oh I hope so," she giggled.

* * *

There was a cabin in the Forbidden Forest that Remus used during the few days in which he changed. The first night had been horrible for Landon, who had not gotten over attacking his friends the last time he changed. The boy was upstairs waiting for Remus to tell him that it was time to go back out for a new night of frightening transformations.

"Remus."

His heart caught in his chest when he turned around to see Tonks standing at the screen door, her blue hair highlighted by the setting sun.

"Nymphadora," he murmured, hurrying over to the door and opening it. "What are you doing here?"

Tonks held up a transcript she had gotten from the Ministry and handed it to him.

"The Ministry has been shut down for the past couple of days," she told him as she looked around. "Dumbledore believes that Greyback has something to do with it, while the Ministry's official position is that it was an attack on the Minister. The Floo system has been out and you needed to be informed."

Remus motioned towards the door.

"You should not have risked it," he snapped. "It's almost dark and the moon will be out any moment. You need to leave now."

Ignoring him, Tonks looked around and frowned.

"Where's Landon Greyback?" she asked but Remus continued to try to get her out of the cabin.

"You need to leave, Nymphadora," he repeated urgently and she turned to face him.

"Where's Landon, Remus?" she asked.

"Upstairs, now please go."

Tonks stared at him for a moment before she walked towards the door, shaking her head.

"I'm not afraid of you, Remus," she whispered, stopping in the doorway. "I know you won't hurt me."

The corner of his mouth twitched a little before he glanced over to the stairs and shook his head.

"It's late, Tonks," he muttered. "You should go."

"It's a little late for that," she whispered and he turned to see her pointing to three dark figures moving towards them. She caught his eyes and pulled out her wand. "You can't get rid of me now."

Remus closed his eyes briefly to swallow the despair that filled him at the thought before he turned and moved to the stairs.

"Landon! Get down here now!"

"But I have to-"

"GET DOWN HERE!" Remus bellowed angrily, ignoring the strange look Tonks gave him. She had seen him like this before, yet the disappointment in her eyes always seemed to cut him deeply. However, instead of voicing her emotions, she looked out of the window and bit her lip.

"They're getting closer, Remus," she hissed.

"LUPIN!"

Tonks' blood ran cold at the sound of Fenrir Greyback. That man terrified her to no end and she had no intention of getting into a fight with him any time soon. Her eyes met with Remus' and she shook her head, telling him silently not to answer.

"LUPIN, I KNOW HE'S IN THERE!" Greyback bellowed fiercely. "EITHER YOU SEND HIM OUT OR I'M COMING IN AND KILLING TONKS!"

Remus jolted at the threat and a moment later his eyes darkened murderously. At that same moment Landon appeared, eyes wide with paralyzing horror.

"That's my dad," he mumbled, sinking to the floor and closing his eyes. It was dark now and the moon would appear any moment. The voices were beginning to come back and his father's voice was not helping. "No…"

"Landon get away from the window," Remus snapped but Greyback's words could not be blocked out.

"LANDON!" the man roared. "LAND-"

The interruption piqued Tonks curiosity and she looked out the window to see them gone.

"Where-"

Remus was unable to get to Landon in time and Greyback yanked him out of the cabin.

"Landon!"

* * *

"Charlie, where are we going?!" Reilly yelled as she clambered over some icy rocks and tugged her scarf away from a mean thorn bush. She had caught sight of her friend when her sister had abandoned her in Hogsmeade and the two had decided to explore the forest just outside of town.

"Landon said that Mr. Lupin took him out here to some cabin," he called from ahead. "Ow! What was that for?"

Reilly picked up another clump of snow and prepared to throw it at her friend again.

"Landon never told me where he was being kept," she snapped. Insult was written all over her face, but Charlie, only being an eleven year old boy with no experience in the female psyche, failed to understand the meaning of those words and made himself a snow ball as well.

"So?"

Reilly lobbed the snowball and was about to bend down to scoop up some more when a scream cut through the air. The two shared a look and then Charlie took off up the hill and motioned for her to follow. When they reached the top, he stopped her and they huddled behind some bushes, eyes wide and hearts racing. At the bottom of the hill they had just climbed were three large men and one woman, talking quietly with each other as they waited for something. For a while they just stood there and soon the two became bored, but then something happened that caused both of them to gasp.

"Oh no," Charlie murmured while Reilly grabbed his hand in fear.

"LET GO OF ME! ARGH! AHHH!" Landon yelped as he was dragged by the collar through the snow. Both eleven year olds on the hill shifted a little and then froze when the blonde woman turned towards them, eyes narrowed.

"SHUT UP!" Fenrir bellowed, throwing the boy to the ground and bending down to look him in the eyes. "I would think you would show me a little more gratitude for turning you into what you are, but I suppose it's too much to ask for when you've been hanging around a bastard like Remus Lupin. That man doesn't understand the pleasures of being a werewolf."

"I DON'T WANT TO BE LIKE YOU!" Landon snarled viciously, his body twitching grotesquely as the night began to pique. Fenrir grabbed the boy's face and pulled him up so that their noses touched. He examined his son's eyes quickly and a cruel smile curved Fenrir's lips.

"Lupin's been trying to break you of that lust," he whispered. "But you're still young… and very… _impressionable…_" He bore his fangs and looked up at the sky. "And time is running out. I'll change your mind about me yet." Landon spat in his face and Fenrir struck him, standing up. "This is deeply saddening, Landon. You've picked up some bad manners from those damned Weasleys. I'll have to talk to them about that later."

"I HATE YOU!" Landon screamed and Fenrir kicked him, causing him to double over and moan, coughing up blood. Reilly's eyes filled with tears and Charlie's grip tightened painfully but the two stayed perfectly still. The blonde woman was still looking about suspiciously and they would be no good to Landon if they were captured as well.

"SHUT UP!" Fenrir repeated threateningly. "Or so help me God, I will kill you."

One of the men, Dekker, approached Fenrir or rather stumbled up to Fenrir and pointed in the direction that they had come, mumbling something inaudible. The large werewolf listened for a moment before he looked back down at Landon, eyes narrowing.

"You pathetic little whelp," he growled. "I'm going to show you how to handle your issue properly and then I'm going to find one of your little friends and make sure their there when you change. That'll teach you to leave marks." Landon just stared up at his father stubbornly and after a moment Fenrir grew furious and brought his heel down on the boy's face, snarling as Landon fell to the ground, bleeding profusely from his nose.

A faint whimper escaped Reilly's lips just before Charlie slapped his hand over her mouth and pulled her down behind the bush. She could feel his heart pounding maddeningly against his chest as he held on to her, afraid that if he let her go, she would scream. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes and heard absolutely nothing. They exchanged glances and then peeked over the ridge to see the whole group still there, talking quietly amongst themselves. Landon was lying on the ground, writhing painfully as he clutched his face.

The two watched for a little while longer until Reilly could no longer handle the sight of her friend and then Charlie gently pulled her away. They crept back down the hill, looking around warily with wide eyes and trembling lips.

"We have to help him," Charlie muttered and Reilly nodded swiftly, wiping the tears from her face.

"But how?"

"I have an idea."

They looked up the hill and Reilly screamed. Charlie grabbed her hand and yanked her in the opposite direction.

"RUN!" he screamed. "REILLY RUN!"

It's a curious thing what your body does when you're scared. At times it freezes in horror, like the mind does when confronted with a situation it is not familiar with, or does it wish to be familiar with. At other times it will abandon the will of the mind and flee the scenario, hoping never to return again. When the body flees in a scared state, it can carry you long distances at a fast rate and this is precisely what happened with Reilly and Charlie as they made a break for Hogsmeade.

It was surprising how fast they were able to run, but they made it as far as the edge of the forest before Emory caught up with them.

"HELP!" Reilly screamed. "HELP!"

"HELP! SOMEONE HELP US!" Charlie shouted. "PLEASE!"

Rayne, Tyler and Hanna saw Reilly and Charlie bolt out of the brush, screaming and panting heavily.

"Reilly! Reilly, I've been looking all over for you! It's almost nine! Where-"

Moonlight bathed Hogsmeade with a foreboding glow as an emaciated werewolf leaped out from the darkness of the Forest and struck Reilly from the side, slamming her into a wall before grabbing her by the collar and dragging her back towards the woods.

"REILLY!" Charlie screamed. "REILLY! REILLY!"

He started to run after her when Tyler grabbed him and pulled him back just when the edge of the woods caught fire. Soon everything was blazing, despite the snow and hundreds of people were flooding the streets, yelling orders and crying in fear as the fire seamed to devour anything it could find.

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" Charlie yelled, struggling against the older boy. "REILLY!"

"WEREWOLVES!" someone shrieked as a stampede of people headed towards the path leading to Hogwarts. "WEREWOLVES!"

Rayne looked down at Charlie, eyes wide and filling quickly with tears.

"What did you do?"

* * *

Ginny finished fixing her blouse and began tying her hair up in a ponytail, all the while a deep, painful nagging was eating away at the pit of her stomach. Her heart would occasionally race with fear and in her mind she knew that beyond the manor walls the world was not as it should be.

The bedroom door opened and Draco walked in, fully dressed and ready to leave. His eyes were dark and void or any sort of emotion that Ginny could detect, indicating that he had completely detached himself from the past couple of days.

"The Floo just reopened," he told her quietly and she nodded, looking herself over in the mirror. There were bags under her red eyes and remnants of tearstains still marred her cheeks. Her skin was pale and blotchy and her hair hung limp in the ponytail.

So much for the two night affair…

It seemed somewhat anticlimactic for her to end such a torrid relationship this way. Two days ago, she would have been a sobbing wreck, pleading with him not to go and clinging to him for dear life. But she had more important things to worry about than her insatiable need to be around Draco Malfoy. She had to think about Reilly and Rayne now. She had to think about Jason, who, if he knew better, was packing his things and getting ready to leave town.

Draco Malfoy ceased to be an issue now.

Biting her lip, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the ring Jason had given her, carefully sliding it onto her finger for a few moments before a wave of guilt flooded her and she hurriedly pulled it back off, stuffing it in her pocket with more force than necessary. Again her heart began to pound and her mind was bombarded with the thoughts of danger.

"Something bad is happening," she whispered as she grabbed her bag and followed him out the door. "Do you know anything?"

Draco shook his head as they made their way calmly down the halls towards the stairs. Ginny's first instinct was to believe he was lying to her, but after a couple of minutes, she resigned to a sigh and moved ahead. The walls around her were getting colder by the second and it was becoming increasingly obvious by the house elves gathered at the bottom of the steps that she would not be coming back to this place. Not that she wished to…

Malfoy Manor was a graveyard and there was no way of escaping that. Those born here were doomed to a death unbefitting humanity.

She unconsciously moved around the red stain at the bottom of the stairs and in the corner of her eye she saw Draco step right through it. Bidding a farewell to the sweet creatures waving to her, she walked to the door. Ginny waited patiently as Draco gave a couple of the elves some instructions before he joined her, carrying four envelopes in his hand. She stared at them for a moment before looking up at him, resolved not to ask about them. They exited the manor and began down the long drive that led to the gates of the massive estate.

"Where exactly are we going?" she asked.

"I'm going to drop you off at the Burrow," he told her and for the first time he said that without the slightest hint of disgust in his voice. It was as if all the sinister nature that normally occupied his mind had dissolved momentarily, overtaken by a more docile civility that was unnatural to his lips.

She stopped suddenly and he turned to face her, head tilted to the side.

"What?" he muttered, his grey eyes searching for a quick answer. He was impatient to be rid of her company. Normally she would be insulted, but she understood his reasons and did not want to prolong the torture she knew he must have been going through at this point. After a moment's hesitation, she stuck out her hand for him, chewing on her lip nervously as he stared at her outstretched fingers for a moment. "What's this?"

"You're supposed to shake it, Malfoy," she snapped and he raised an eyebrow.

"Back to last names?" he asked and she shrugged.

"Unless you'd rather me use a name you're more familiar with and call you a pansy," she replied. A shrewd smirk appeared on his face and for the first time since she had first kissed Draco all those years ago, she knew everything was going to be alright. He took her hand and shook it briefly, however instead of answering, he continued on his way to the gate and motioned for her to follow. As they walked through the snow, his smirk remained the same and after a moment Ginny could swear she heard him humming _Weasley is Our King_ as they moved down the path.

**A/N: I am **__** sorry! This chapter is so very overdue and I'm sincerely sorry for that. School is **_**horrible**_** and taking up a lot of my time that I really haven't had a chance to update since New Years. I hope you guys don't hold that against me.**

**springawakening1894****: **I'm not sure if this chapter ended the way you guys wanted, but hopefully you liked it. I'm a bit scatterbrained at the moment so I apologize if this chapter isn't up to the standards of my other ones. I've been trying to get it finished for a while.

**LovingEmerald:** I'm not sure I can let him live. He's a walking time bomb and I think he really should go. I don't know…

**Anonymous:** I love the series also, if I do say so myself.

**purplegabby123:** I think a child would be a good reason for him to stay, but then again, it's also a pretty good reason for him to go.

**darkroses2992****:** I'm thinking about being swayed but I have to really believe a perfect reason. I'm glad you don't care for any of the other characters. That part made me laugh. You're pretty good at begging though. I may be sympathetic, but don't count on it. I've been planning this since the end of **Drift**.

**tamara72****:** We'll deal with what happened to Blaise and the others in the next chapter, don't worry. I'll try to include a little bit of everyone else as well. This is the last chapter with primary focus on D/G.

**Dracoginnylover24****:** It will be a sad day when he dies. I'll see how things unfurl…

**MaeSilverpaws1:** Ginny's beginning to come back to reality and probably already senses that something's wrong with her daughters. As for the deatheaters, Greyback's intentions were solely on Malfoy, not the others and they have nothing to worry about. They're a little more relaxed about security, even with Greyback about. There's a code. I think Hermione's a bit panicky because she now has a daughter and a husband. There is a Swedish proverb that says "worry gives a small thing a big shadow." Hermione's just worrying.

**The Darkest wizard****:** Actually to be quite honest, I've actually already started writing a sequel to this story. Whether or not I will publish it online is yet to be seen, but I have started writing one. (This answer does not mean I have decided on whether or not I will kill Draco because the story does not revolve around him or Ginny). As for Draco's own child, I know this pregnancy is much different than Ginny's pregnancy with Reilly on pure principal. I don't really know how this affects Draco yet. As you can see, he's much less of a prick.

**AngeliqueBlack****:** I'm glad you like it!

**FreezingFire81****:** I really hope you like this one as well!

**Sorry, no chapter tease. I'll try not to keep you all waiting so long next time. For those of you in the US, I hope you're enjoying all of that snow!**


	31. Good Monsters

_It is always good men who do the most harm in the world_. **– Henry Brooks Adams**

* * *

Harry splashed some water against his face and released a shallow sigh, staring into the mirror to find the unsightly image of himself glaring back at him through sunken eyes. The doctor had said that in the next few months, the pain would begin to get worse. Mariel had asked once if there was anything he could take to help ease the pangs, but the Healer had been very forthcoming in saying that they would help a great deal with the pain, but also speed up the process. Mariel never asked again.

"Harry, are you okay?" came his wife's meek voice from the other side of the bathroom door. "Do you need something?"

She had become much better at hiding the fear in her voice, but this time he could tell that his constant disappearances were starting to upset her. His heart clenched tightly at the thought and he quickly unlocked the door. Mariel came in and observed him quickly before motioning behind her.

"I could get some water," she suggested and he shook his head, taking her hand in his.

"I'm fine, love," he whispered. "Just a little pain, that's all."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Harry! Harry, where… oh, I'm sorry," Hermione apologized quickly when she arrived at the door. "I didn't know you two were talking…" A frown crossed her face when she noticed Harry. "Are you okay?"

Mariel was about to answer when Harry cut in and shook his head.

"I'm fine, Hermione," he said, leaving the bathroom quickly. By this time, Mariel looked extremely upset.

"Harry, I think-"

"Mariel, I'm fine," he snapped angrily and before both women could say another word, he moved off downstairs, leaving behind a startled Hermione and a woman close to tears.

"I think he's just tired," Mariel muttered and Hermione turned to her.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly and Mariel nodded.

"Yes, yes," she replied sullenly. "I'm okay." She quickly corrected the look on her face and tried to smile. "I'm very happy we're here though. Harry's been acting much more like himself since he was here."

Hermione offered a smile and motioned down the stairs. Mariel left and Hermione was slow to follow. There was something about this situation that did not sit very well with her. Despite what Mariel had just said, Harry had been looking very ill since he arrived and Hermione could not help but feel vexed about it.

Harry had failed to mention several things to her since he had left England and the mere fact that he had gotten married without informing her was…

"Hard."

Hermione turned around to see Ron standing there, leaning against the wall.

"How did you-"

"You were speaking out loud," he told her, his eyes darkening slightly. "I think hard is the word you were looking for."

Biting her lip, Hermione walked over to her husband and slipped into his arms comfortably.

"I still feel like he's hiding something from us, Ron," she whispered. "And it's bothering me."

"Well, perhaps you still haven't gotten over the fact that he's married," Ron muttered and she looked up at him.

"How do you feel about that?" she asked. "We haven't really had time to talk to him about it."

Ron shrugged.

"I suppose I was hurt at first… I think everyone was… but Mariel seems like a great person…"

Hermione nodded slowly.

"She does seem perfect for him, doesn't she," she agreed pensively. "Sort of the opposite of Ginny…"

Ron frowned and looked down at her.

"Do I detect a little bit of apprehension in your voice?" he asked and she sighed.

"I just wish he would have told us about her earlier. Why would he keep something like this from us?"

"He told Ginny," Ron pointed out and he noticed Hermione's face soften slightly at the reminder.

"Yes… yes he did…"

"Are you upset because for once, Ginny knew something we didn't?"

Hermione hated herself in that moment and sighed, leaning her head against his chest. Jealousy was a logical factor in her disappointment with Harry. She and Ron had always been the first people he came to when he had something to tell… well, besides Dumbledore, of course… It had been like that for years and especially after Harry and Ginny had stopped talking to each other for the longest while, it was surprising to find out that the first person Harry had told about his marriage was the one woman he had secretly been hating for the past eleven years.

"I think he's sick."

Hermione jerked and looked up at Ron in surprise.

"Who, Harry?" she asked quickly and he nodded.

"I think he's sick," he muttered and Hermione could not help but stare at him.

"What would make you think that?"

Ron met her gaze and she bit her lip.

"He's been pale and sweaty ever since he got here. At first I thought it was just because he was nervous about telling us about Mariel, but then…" Ron's eyes hardened and she could tell that this was upsetting him. She touched his face and he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "He's in pain, Hermione. He's trying to hide it, but… I've been watching him ever since we got back from the Ministry and… he's in a lot of pain."

Hermione was surprised that Ron had noticed all of this when she had only now begun to wonder if something was wrong with Harry. But then again, she had seen the things Ron had but attributed them to something else all together. The idea of Harry being sick was hard for her to fathom.

"You don't think it's serious, do you Ron?" she asked quietly and when he did not reply she pulled away from him and hit his arm. "Ron, answer me."

"I think it's very serious," Ron said and she closed her eyes, turning away from him. If she wracked her brain hard enough, she would be able to figure out what was wrong, but the longer she thought about it, the more it hurt.

Harry would tell them…

He would tell them if something was wrong…

* * *

Tonks could feel her lungs burning in her chest but she kept flying. Her wand had been broken long ago and after breaking into the Quiddich shed at Hogwarts and snatching a broom, she had no choice but to fly to the Burrow. Below her, she could hear the terrifying snarls of werewolves as the cut through the forest, making their way past towns on their way to the Weasley household. She had to beat them there.

Her eyes stung with tears and she repeatedly blinked to rid herself of the offending blinders. After Landon had been attacked, it was only minutes before the full moon rose and she disregarded that time constraint to help evacuate people from Hogsmeade. It was then that she had been attacked by the transformed creatures that stormed the area.

The snow drifts nearly forced Tonks off of her broom as she released a gasp of pain and gripped her side, the blood slowly seeping through her coat.

"Shit," she cried. She needed to make her way through the freezing skies to the Burrow. She had to warn them before the werewolves arrived.

The gash in her side was beginning to become unbearable but she gritted her teeth and flew on.

_Come on, Tonks! You can make it! You can make it!_

She had to…

_Remus… what do you say about Remus?_

"Argh!"

The broom went plummeting towards the ground and she nearly broke the tree barrier when she managed to wrench the front of the broom up. By now, she was slouching fully on her broom, clutching the broom with one hand. The thought of saying something about Remus only brought more pain to the wound he had already inflicted. She had to get to the Borrow…

* * *

There was something surreal about coming to the Burrow after the past two days. While the acts that had been committed could not technically be deemed adulterous, Ginny still felt damned as she and Malfoy approached the house silently. The sky was grey and unforgiving and around them, she could hear nothing but the quick release of her own breathing as she struggled to get a grip on herself. The lights were on in the Burrow and she was very aware that most of her family would be there after the shutdown had been dismissed. While her worry was clearly justified, Malfoy, who had not stopped smirking since they left his place, insisted with no reservations that she would not need to explain anything to Jason about anything that had happened over the past two days.

Even after eleven years, Ginny still found it hard to trust Malfoy when it came to the reactions of others. He was hardly the person you came to when it came to feelings. The man barely had any to spare for her.

As they approached the front step, Ginny's chest constricted and a cold feeling slivered down her spine, indicating the same bad omen that had been attacking her the whole day. She had mentioned it once to Malfoy and he told her, in a very casual and unfeeling tone, that Reilly had probably been taken by Greyback and she was having a bout of mother's intuition. He then told her that Greyback would not harm her daughter in any way until Malfoy was there. Otherwise, there would be no point.

"Weasley, you need to calm down," he advised. "Panic isn't going to help your daughter."

"What am I supposed to feel then?" she asked and he snorted.

"I tried telling you that once and you got pissed at me," he said. She frowned and looked up at him.

"When did you tell me?"

His eyes darkened slightly, but that damned smirk would not disappear. Perhaps it was a nervous reaction.

"The night we had dinner with my parents."

"Oh…" She said nothing more after that. It was becoming increasingly obvious to her that the same feelings that haunted her were beginning to eat away at him and she had no intention of aggravating him with more talk. She would have to keep her fears about her daughter's safety to herself.

When they finally reached the door, Ginny stopped short of knocking and turned to Malfoy, taking a shaky breath. Malfoy noticed and raised an eyebrow.

"We just spent the last two days shagging. You're not going to get sentimental now, are you?" he asked incredulously and she paled significantly.

"No," she snapped, straightening up a little. "I was just going to ask you if you really wanted to come inside. They all might try to kill you once they find out what happened."

Malfoy snorted and knocked on the door himself.

"I'm glad you acknowledged your family's inferiority and used the word 'try', Weasley," he commented and Ginny hesitated. She did not know whether to smile or sneer at his words. Instead, she just turned back to the door and muttered something about it just being a question.

"I've got it!"

The door opened and Hermione's eyes widened.

"Ginny!" she gasped, completely missing the fact that Malfoy was standing there as well. "Ginny, where have you been?!"

Malfoy coughed in a manner that clearly indicated that he was not happy to have been overlooked and Hermione paled a little.

"Malfoy…" When she realized what was going on, she turned to Ginny. "You were with _him?_"

Rolling his eyes, Malfoy stepped past the two women.

"Please, go on. Talk about me like I'm not here, Mudblood," he said coolly and Hermione nearly stumbled over herself. Too astonished by this complete turn of events to speak, she looked over at Ginny for answers and the young woman just shook her head.

"Please don't ask," she muttered, following Malfoy into the living room, where surprisingly, most of her family was missing. Her parents, Harry, Mariel, Ron, Moody and Dumbledore were there.

The entire place fell silent at the sight of Malfoy and Ginny began chewing on her lip again. She peered around the room and saw Jason standing in the corner near the kitchen door, eyes glazed over.

"Um… Malfoy won't be here long," she told them all. "He just needs to speak to Harry… and you, Ron." Her eyes went back to Jason. "I really need to speak to you."

To her surprise, he nodded without a word and disappeared into the kitchen, adding to the anxiousness that was already flowing rampant through her veins. Unfortunately, her mother was unable to keep quiet long enough for Ginny to leave with Jason.

"Ginny, what is he doing here?" she asked in such a tone to suggest that Hermione had not been able to keep her mouth shut about the entire marriage business. Taking a second look around, it was now obvious to her that they all knew about Malfoy's little stunt with the divorce papers and none of them seemed to be too happy about it. She could tell they all wanted to discuss this, the biting feeling at the back of her skull refused to relent and she shook her head.

"I'm not talking about this right now," she snapped, moving through the group to get to the kitchen. She could feel Malfoy's eyes on her back and she could not help the shiver that shot up her spine as she made it into the kitchen. She found Jason sitting at the table, fiddling with a piece of parchment. "Um…"

He looked up and she could not help but wonder how he was so calm. The ideas that must have been running through his head at the time probably could not measure up to what had happened over the past two days and she would have to explain it all to him.

"Ginny, sit down," he whispered and she frowned.

What was wrong with him?

She took the seat right across from him and took a deep breath.

"Look, Jason," she started. "I have something I need to tell you-"

"I know," he cut in and she nearly fell out of her chair.

"Excuse me?"

His eyes met her and suddenly she realized exactly what he meant.

"I know everything," he told her softly, holding up the parchment in his hand. "Malfoy told me everything."

He handed her the letter and she quickly read over it, her jaw dropping with every line that she read.

Everything was in there. From Ginny's initial reluctance to become involved to the pregnancy, which Malfoy admitted never having been the idea of bringing her to Malfoy Manor in the first place. It was as if a guilty conscious had written this letter, detailing every little thing that had gone on during the two days. The only thing that was not mentioned was Malfoy's own feelings on the subject at hand. He constantly wrote about how guilty Ginny felt during the past two days but not once was it noted on how Malfoy felt.

"When did you get this?" Ginny managed to ask quietly as she struggled to hold in the tears.

"A few hours ago," Jason said. There was no emotion in his voice, which was much worse than the disappointment or anger that she had expected. She wanted so desperately for him to yell or walk away or do something to express how Malfoy's letter had made him feel, but that would be too easy and it was selfish of her to think that it would happen. Of course he was going to make her feel completely horrible about this and the only way to do that was to show no emotion.

"And?" she whispered.

"And what?"

There it was. The slight annoyance that betrayed the hatred that was spreading like wildfire through his veins. She looked up at him and saw it in his eyes as well. After spending so much time with Malfoy, she was able to pick up the tiniest of emotions. Jason was not that good at hiding them.

"And… I don't know…" She looked down at the letter. "He told you everything…"

Jason looked up at her and she could immediately see that he too did not know what to say in the situation. It was a rare occasion for Draco Malfoy to be completely honest with you. For him to be so straight forward about such a disastrous situation had obviously left the both of them speechless.

As he continued to stare at her, Ginny became painfully aware of something else.

She was currently pregnant with the child of a man who was about to kill himself after saving her daughter and all she was doing was sitting here worried about the feelings of the one man she had single-handedly managed to screw with.

When had she become so… disconnected?

Recognizing the panic that was beginning to attack her again, she stood up quickly and pointed to the door.

"Um… I need to speak to Dra… to Malfoy before he leaves," she murmured.

For the first time since she knew him, Jason resembled Malfoy. His eyes narrowed and grew dark for a split second before he stood up as well.

"Fine." He led the way out of the kitchen and the moment they reached the living room. To Ginny's misfortune, the rest of her family had arrived, making the entire situation tenser. He motioned to the blonde. "Malfoy. Your wife needs to speak to you."

Ginny's eyes closed momentarily and her heart skipped a beat.

Was it possible for the man to be so cruel?

Taking a deep breath, Ginny looked around and tried desperately not to look at Malfoy.

"Um… actually, I need to speak to all of you," she said in as strong a voice as she could muster. "Before Malfoy leaves." Once all eyes were on her, things became much harder to explain. "Well... the last couple of days have been… unfortunate…"

"Ginny-"

Holding up her hand, Ginny cut off her mother quickly and took another deep breath.

"Please let me finish," she begged. "I need to finish so that Malfoy can leave."

"Why does he have to stay?" Ron asked rudely and Ginny looked over at him.

"Because he's not coming back after this," she snapped.

_Damn it, Ginny, keep it together,_ she told herself as tears came to her eyes.

"Um… The last two days… I've done some things that…" She glanced over at Jason. "I don't think I'll ever be proud of. But um… anyway…" She pulled her ponytail out of the band and ran her fingers through her hair. "My daughter… has been captured by Greyback…" She turned to Moody. "That's probably why you can't get in contact with Remus…"

Jason jolted beside her and stared right at her, eyes wide and filled with horror.

"Ginny-"

"Let me finish," Ginny snapped with much more force than intended. She could saw Dumbledore and Moody disappear out the door and closed her eyes. She needed to get through this. "Reilly's going to be fine, Malfoy's going to get her."

Ron frowned.

"Ginny, I don't think-"

"I have just finished making one of the worst decisions of my life and possibly ruined the best thing that could have happened to me," Ginny growled, angry more at herself than anything else. Tears were still filling her eyes, but she refused to let them fall in Malfoy's presence. She had spent the last two days crying for what she was about to lose. She would not give him the satisfaction by letting him see her cry one more time. "All I have to say is that I'm sorry to all of you for what I've put this family through…" Her eyes finally met Malfoy's and she raised her chin a little. "I can tell you right now, it probably won't happen again…"

Before anyone could say anything, Ginny disappeared out of the room with Malfoy close behind. Ron and his brothers exchanged glances and followed after, stopping short to find the two standing by the door as Malfoy put his cloak back on. Ginny had the most determined look on her face as she watched him.

"You're not going to tell me where she is, are you?" she asked quietly.

"They'll bring her to St. Mungos and then you'll be contacted," he told her.

"And Rayne?"

"I wouldn't worry too much about her."

"And-"

Malfoy looked up at her, a slight irritation in his eyes.

"Is there something you need to tell me, Weasley?"

Ginny looked down at her hands. For a moment they just stood there, unable to move away from each other, but unable to get any closer.

To her brothers, the two looked anything but a couple deeply and undeniably in love with each other. There was an uncomfortable coldness about this that caused the brothers to wonder what was really going on.

"There are… there are a lot of things I wish had never happened to us," she whispered, meeting Malfoy's marble eyes as she struggled to come up with the words. "And the last couple of days-"

"Is there a point in all of this?" Malfoy cut in and for some reason she smiled, nodding.

"You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?" she asked but he said nothing. He just watched her with those beautiful, cold, calculating eyes. Taking a deep breath she crossed her arms over her chest. "I just wanted to say thank you."

"For what?"

She leaned over and opened the door, leaning against it as a smile came to her face.

"For ruining my life… for the second time," she said and a smirk appeared on his face.

Malfoy reached out and touched her cheek, leaned in and kissed her temple, lingering there long enough to bring a new wave of tears to Ginny's eyes. But she refused to let them fall. He would not see her cry for him.

"Good luck, Weasley," he murmured against her skin as he slipped the envelopes into her hand. "And goodbye…"

And he was gone.

Ginny closed her eyes and closed the door the moment he stepped out, breathing quickly to calm herself.

"What's going on, Ginny?" Bill asked quietly.

"Nothing," she whispered.

"Ginny-"

"Draco's not coming back," she told them quickly, looking up at them through watery eyes. "Ever."

Ron frowned.

"What does that mean?"

Ginny stood up straight and moved past them.

"It means the next time you see Draco Malfoy, he'll probably be dead."

* * *

Arriving back at Malfoy Manor, Draco entered through the large oak doors, walked up the stairs and sat down on the top step, looking around him. All around he could hear the silent screams of men and women who had died in this house. In the years he had lived here, there were several things he had done that many people would consider wrong or even go as far as using words like evil.

Draco's eyes moved down the marble staircase to the spot at the bottom stained with his mother's blood and a smile came to his face.

He wouldn't go as far as saying evil…

The front door opened and Blaise, Rockwell and Valance walked in with Luna, Rachel and Catherine. Watching them line up at the bottom of the stairs, Draco's eyes narrowed as he observed the bandages on some of them.

"Where's Goyle?" he asked and Catherine released a painful gasp before hurrying out of the room, followed closely by Luna and Rachel. Rockwell looked up at Draco.

"Goyle's dead."

"Bloody hell," Draco growled, standing up and moving down the stairs. "Greyback?"

"Emory," Blaise muttered. "She's a confident bitch."

Draco ignored the statement, his mind racing with the information he had been given.

Gregory Goyle had been his first real friend and after he had killed Crabbe, Draco had counted on Goyle to do the things that were necessary to upkeep the Malfoy name while Draco disappeared for the past eleven years. Greyback had done a very bad thing…

Taking a deep breath, Draco smoothed back his hair and closed his eyes.

"Fine… You three can deal with that later," he whispered calmly. "I promised Weasley I'd get her daughter back tonight."

The three other men exchanged glances before Valance motioned behind him.

"You do know that the Burrow is about to be attacked by werewolves, right?" he asked and Draco nodded. Valance shrugged and snorted, heading for the door. "Just as long as you know."

"The lot of them can take care of themselves," Draco said coolly and Rockwell nodded obediently, but it was obvious to Draco that he was no longer coming along because of any loyalty to Draco. Greyback had made this entire affair extremely personal by not only killing Goyle, but attacking the Attingwood sisters, Blaise and his pregnant wife.

This was no longer about fulfilling Draco's sick vendetta to kill the last remaining threat to the Malfoy family.

Rockwell and Valance left the house quietly while Blaise approached Draco.

"They almost killed Luna, Draco," he growled. "They almost killed my son."

A smirk came to the blonde's face and he stepped forward so that the two were parallel to each other.

"Then lets kill them," he suggested and Blaise smiled.

"Now that sounds like a perfectly thought out plan."

Blaise headed for the door, leaving Draco behind to look around one more time.

He would not miss this place.

Going to the door, he almost made it out when a soft voice stopped him.

"Promise us they'll come back."

He looked behind him to see Luna, Rachel and Catherine standing in the corner, watching him through pleading eyes.

"We don't care if you come back," Luna whispered. "Just make sure nothing happens to them."

Catherine disappeared again into the other room but the other two remained.

"Please let them live," Rachel added. "I would really like not to have to bury Colin also."

The smirk on Draco's disappeared before he walked out the door. Valance, Blaise and Rockwell turned around to face him and they were silent for a moment, knowing that this would be the last time they would ever really be able to talk to each other. Valance tilted his head to the side after a moment and shifted.

"I feel like we should hug or something," he suggested and Rockwell slapped him across the head before moving on down the path.

"Then perhaps we could all have a shag and sing 'God Save the Queen'," he muttered, leading the way down the path. "Prick."

Draco raised an eyebrow as he and the others followed Rockwell towards the gate.

"Something else happen in the past two days?" he asked and Blaise snorted.

"Bloody werewolves interrupted one of his sessions with Attingwood," he explained and Draco's smile reappeared.

"Yeah, I can't help with that."

**A/N: Here's the chapter. The next one will most definitely be an action-packed one. I tried not to get to sentimental with the whole Draco/Ginny thing. That may have been the last time they were ever going to see each other, but let's face it. Draco would have never allowed her to be all teary eyed and stuff. I hope you guys liked it. I'm sorry the part with Harry was not as long. I didn't think it would be appropriate to make his scenes that long since this chapter was going to focus on getting Draco's goodbye per say. Oh well…**

**NoReins94:** I promise on my honor you will see so much action next chapter and some of it will involve Reilly and Landon. We just had spring break, so I was able to work on this a little. Hope you all like it.

**Dracoginnylover24:** It'll be okay. You'll probably see a bit more discussion between Jason and Ginny. As for Draco, he's a little on his own for the rest of this story.

**purplegabby123:** :-) I don't think any reason would be good enough to die, but… who knows? I think both Draco and Ginny want this whole thing to be over with for good.

**The Darkest wizard:** Oh I definitely think they will get revenge. There's no doubt in my mind.

**padmeani8:** I have a plan, but I hope everyone likes the outcome. I think it will help everyone. The reason Draco's killing himself has absolutely nothing to do with Greyback. The real truth is that I don't have a definitive answer for why Draco's killing himself because even I don't understand my "understanding" of Draco Malfoy. Perhaps he's doing it to stop the whole cycle of "Malfoy". Sure Reilly and his son will be pureblooded Malfoy's, but they won't be raised under that whole "Malfoyness". If you understand what I'm saying. Or maybe he's always just been suicidal. I don't know…

**Nosebleed Nonsense:** Well, no matter what I decide to do with Draco, he's never coming back to see Ginny anymore.

**Angelique Black:** I hope you liked this one. The next one probably won't be as dramatic.

**realityfling18:** We are coming to the end, but I don't think it will end with the next chapter. There might be two or three more. There's going to be a lot in the next chapter though, since it will be action chapter where everything finally starts to come together (or break apart).

**FreezingFire81:** Everyone doesn't want Draco to die. I feel good that I managed to make one of the worst characters (worst as in bad) in Harry Potter and make everyone fall in love with him to the point where they cant bare to see him die. I hope you'll survive though if Draco does die. Strong emphasis on the if.

**darkroses2992:** I don't mind people groveling. Everyone seems to be doing that lately. I have a feeling Draco will continue to bless the world with his arrogance even after he's gone, if I decide to kill him. As for after he's gone, the other three will definitely be there to protect Ginny. Draco still has some who are loyal to him. Maybe not Rockwell and Valance, but Blaise will probably stay behind so that Luna can have the child. I don't think Hermione knows anything about what's going on and I highly doubt that Ginny's going to tell them what exactly Draco's planning because even she doesn't know. Well, she knows the curse, but she has no idea where Greyback will be and as you have read, she's sort of accepted the fact that Draco's not coming back. You'll see what happens.

**Sorry, no chapter tease.**


	32. We Were Human

_On the whole human beings want to be good, but not too good, and not quite all the time._ **– George Orwell**

* * *

There was a spot in the Astronomy Tower that allowed one to view the sky at its most magnificent. Galaxies of stars filled the dark blanket, lighting up Hogwarts and creating beautiful, dancing lights on the lake as the giant squid glided across the surface. Occasionally, one would see some deer come to the edge for a drink or just a peek at the moon.

An amazing sight that was lost in the daily schedule of Hogwarts students.

Reilly had seen it though. She, Charlie and Landon had all seen it together and marveled at how expansive something could bee if one looked. Of course, this was not how they described it with their limited, first year vocabulary. It was an unusual place for three eleven year olds to spend their time, but they made it work with constant snacking, book reading and star gazing, mixed in with back and forth banter between two unruly boys.

The scent of chocolate frogs and peppermint filled Reilly's nose and a smile came to her face as she lay there, breathing it in and enjoying the return to the tower. Around her, she could feel the night wind tickling her bare toes and running through her lengthened hair. Goosebumps ran up and down her arms and she shivered slightly before laughing when something began to lick her feet.

Opening her grey eyes, she looked to see small, brown amphibians staring up at her. At first they just sat there, surrounding her with small chirps and the occasional nudge at her foot. Reilly could not help but wonder how such adorable candies came to be out of their wrappers or why they were bothering with her.

If she were out of her wrapper, she would not wait around to be eaten. She would just leave.

Another light breeze came through and she shivered again, looking down at herself to see a black, knee length dress on her person. It clutched her torso painfully and flailed out at the waist, completely covering her legs tucked under her. She had long silk globes on and her hair was tied up into tiny pigtails.

She felt something on her neck and looked down to see the Malfoy family crest engraved on a small onyx stone linked to a golden chain around her throat. She ran a finger along the grooves and then looked up at the sky, watching as thousands of stars winked and smiled at her, showing off how bright they could become.

"Ow!" Reilly glared down at one of the little frogs who had hit her foot particularly hard. "What?"

More chirping and staring.

Reilly's smile reappeared and she reached out for the little sweetie. Her fingers barely grazed the soft chocolate when they were turned away by an invisible force. She frowned and tried to touch the frog and again her hand was stopped by something she could not see.

"Wha-"

Suddenly the chirping stopped and one by one, each frog began jumping at her, striking the transparent field around her in short intervals.

"Stop that," she scolded. "You'll only end up hurting yourselves that way." For a moment they actually stopped and began staring again, unnerving her until suddenly all of them began pounding themselves against the thin veil. "Oi! Stop it! Stop it right now! You'll just hurt- STOP!"

The veil finally broke and Reilly's eyes widened when she realized what exactly they were. The adorable chocolate features gave way to small, hairless bodies with large heads, scaly, long webbed arms and legs with the largest mouth she had ever seen. The long, white, sharp teeth gnashed furiously while four small green eyes on the top stared at her.

"NO!"

She could feel her skin being ripped off and shrieked at the top of her lungs as she was overwhelmed by the Fleshsnipers.

"NO!"

* * *

Greyback came up to stand behind his son, a smile on his dark features as they watched Reilly Weasley scratch and tear at herself, shrieking hysterically as she began to bleed. He glanced down at Landon to see the boy's eyes glazed over and unreadable, which only increased Greyback's amusement. Placing a hand on Landon's shoulder, he laughed as he returned to watching the little girl.

"You see Landon," he whispered with a grin. "Eventually, we all become crazy." He leaned forward so that his lips were close to Landon's ear. "I only sped up the process."

* * *

"The last time you said you were over Malfoy, he came back, you two shacked up for two days and now you're pregnant… I'd hate to see what happens after this," Jason said, entering the kitchen an hour after Malfoy had made his quick and rather upsetting exit. Ginny looked up from her tea through red eyes and sniffled a little. Beside her cup were the envelopes Malfoy had slipped into her hand, but she refused to read them until she received news of what had happened with Greyback.

"I would say your comments were uncalled for since you know what he's planning, but I suppose that would be a little hypocritical," she replied calmly.

Jason sat down across from her and nodded slowly.

"I suppose it would be."

Ginny's fingers grazed over the envelopes unconsciously and his attention was drawn immediately to them.

"Are those from Malfoy?" he asked quietly and she nodded.

"Two of them are for Reilly and… the baby," she hesitated. "One is for Rayne and the other is for me."

"He wrote a letter to his unborn child?" Jason was genuinely surprised by that. Reilly, Rayne and Ginny he expected. He would have assumed Malfoy would be too indifferent to care anymore about the baby. "Does it say my child on it?"

Ginny shook her head, holding up the envelope calmly.

"It says Scorpius," she replied. "I can only assume he's talking about the baby."

"Scorpius?"

The corner of her lip twitched slightly but she refrained from replying to quickly. Jason still had all of the cards and she had yet to see what he was going to do with them. She was not about to take her chances and anger him so early.

"It's an interesting name," she whispered.

"Yeah it is… I suppose…"

Ginny closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she asked, "What is going to happen to us, Jason?"

He stared at her for a moment, waiting for her to open her eyes as he observed the contours of her face. Despite the obvious evidence of tears, there was no doubt in his mind that she had absolutely no regret about the last two days and yet he could see the extreme guilt that seemed to be plaguing her.

"If you could do this all over again… would you?" he asked quietly.

"No."

"Really?"

Jason was genuinely surprised by her answer. He would have thought that after all that had happened, she would be honest with him in at least this one question. Would she truly not have Draco Malfoy's child if given the chance?

Ginny knew exactly what was going through his mind and immediately wanted to refute it.

"The one thing I would do differently is leave you out of it," she told him openly. She had left behind the caution she would take in this situation. "You don't deserve to go through something like this."

Frowning, Jason leaned back in his chair, observing her from a distance.

"You would still have his child?"

Ginny looked into his eyes and shrugged.

"It doesn't matter," she told him. "Malfoy probably would have been dead anyway."

"You seem so confident in that."

A smile appeared on Ginny's face as she stood up and placed her cup in the sink.

"It's a known fact that Malfoys don't live long enough to see their children grow up," she said over her shoulder. "He may hate his parents, but has no intention of breaking tradition. He can't help it."

"I thought he loved himself too much to do something like that."

Again, Ginny surprised him with a laugh, sending a small shiver up his spine at the sound.

"Malfoy loves himself too much _not_ to do something like that," she responded cynically. "I'm not the only being selfish." She pointed to herself. "He shagged me, impregnated me and now he's leaving me behind to go kill some bastard dog and himself, just because he feels the need to be a _Malfoy_…" Ginny trailed off for a second and she took a deep breath. This was no time to become angry. Especially in front of the one man who seemed to be offering a second chance, in a very subtle and mildly irritating way. "Um… anyway… no… I wouldn't do it the same way if given the chance."

"At least you're being honest," Jason commented from his chair and she snorted, sitting down again and resting her head on the table.

"I've been trying that for a while and so far, it's been difficult," she muttered. "Especially after Harry came back…" Her eyes closed at the thought of the man and Jason reached out and touched her hand.

"I never had a problem with Harry Potter," he said and Ginny smiled.

"Of all the men people should be jealous of," she muttered. "You picked Draco Malfoy."

"He had something I loved."

Ginny sat up straight and tucked her hair behind her ears.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that," she told him. "I don't think he's coming back for me again."

Jason frowned.

"How are you so calm?"

Ginny motioned to him.

"Why are you so calm?" she countered and he became stiff, his eyes hardening slightly as they flickered to her stomach.

"Well… the thought of Malfoy dying helps."

Ginny raised an eyebrow but tried not to be too sensitive to his remarks. He had every right to be spiteful and she had absolutely no right to scold him. Besides, the idea of Malfoy dying was helpful in calming her down as well. To have him come back again would probably ruin her.

"Talk about being honest," she commented and he snorted.

"You're the one who started the trend."

"Try not to be too honest too quickly," she whispered, standing up again and moving to the back door. She watched the snow fall for a moment and leaned her head against the cool glass. "I may be okay with him being gone, but I might just curse you if you slander the father of my child so quickly after he was conceived."

"Spoken like a true Malfoy."

She could not help the smile that came to her face and she turned to him.

"I'm glad to see you so at peace with this entire situation. I was actually expecting you to call me something less than appropriate and then just leave."

Jason stood up and walked over to where she was, looking out the door as well.

"I thought about leaving," he said before shrugging and correcting himself. "Actually, I was planning on waiting until you came back, telling your entire family what had happened, then I was going to leave."

It was a sobering moment for Ginny. She thought he would have been angry, but to debase her in front of her family was a length she honestly would not expect him to go to.

"Oh," was all she could conjure up and a smile appeared on his face, though he did not look at her.

"Finally the girl is speechless."

Ginny stared at him for a second and then looked down at her hands. She hoped his insults would not last for more than a couple of weeks. Past that and she would probably end up hurting him. She may have done something wrong, but he was giving her a second chance and being cruel to her would not commend her to stay for much longer, no matter how much she wanted to.

"Why are you still here?" she asked seriously and he finally looked down at her.

"Why did you come back?"

Biting her lip, she took a deep breath and sighed.

"I have my reasons."

"And I have mine."

"Not very well thought out ones, I believe," she whispered and he grunted, shifting a little beside her.

"You seem very eager to see me think it through."

She looked up at him and frowned.

"I'm not," she blurted out quickly before biting her tongue and wincing a little at her rushed words. She curbed her momentary panic and returned to looking back out the door. "I was just saying…"

"Saying that I have no logical reason to be here?"

"You don't."

Jason watched her for a moment and then chuckled, a sound that caused her to shiver. He was beginning to sound more and more cavalier about the relationship, just like Malfoy had become during the last couple of days before she had been raped.

"I suppose I don't," he agreed and she stiffened a little.

"I suppose we've both gone off our rockers," she muttered darkly.

"Why would you say that?"

She shrugged.

"We haven't fought yet," she suggested and he snorted.

"Were you expecting kicking and screaming?"

"I was expecting something a little less subtle."

He was silent for a moment, thinking over the words he was about to say and trying to find a way to phrase it appropriately without seeming overly vindictive.

"You made a… _thoughtless_ mistake," he said. "I have no need to rub it in. I think you'll have enough of that later."

"How thoughtful of you."

Jason glanced down at her.

"If you're going to be sarcastic about it, perhaps I should just humiliate you in front of your family," he retorted calmly and her eyes darkened fleetingly at the threat. He was becoming bold and she did not like it. Him knowing about the situation was one thing. Her family knowing was a completely different and possibly unforgiving incident that she wanted to avoid until after news of Greyback, and Malfoy, came back. She was silent for a moment before turning to meet his gaze.

"You seem to be controlling yourself pretty well, despite the circumstances," she whispered and he returned to looking out the window.

"I tried putting myself in your position," he told her evenly. He shrugged and snorted. "Of course when that failed, I just imagined something horrible happening to you." He thought over those words for a moment and then continued. "After that, I sort of just waited to see what you had to say."

His words were extremely passive aggressive in a way that made her cringe with guilt. He was being overly polite and careful with the way he phrased his comments, yet she could tell that their aim was to make her hurt even more. It was a subtle reminder of what how her actions were affecting him, despite his close proximity to her. Ginny leaned against the door and tilted her head to get his attention.

"Why are you here?" she asked again, desperate to get a real, concrete answer out of him. "You should hate me."

A smile crossed over his lips but his eyes filled with so much pain that all the air in her lungs was knocked out in one swift punch.

"I did hate you, Ginny," he whispered. "I hated you for letting yourself get screwed over by Malfoy again…" His eyes softened slightly and he looked down at her. "But I figure… If I'm going to marry you, I'm going to have to get over that hatred and be just as forgiving as you were selfish…"

Tears ran down Ginny's face and she released a choked gasp as she struggled to breathe. Her chest was crushing her with the weight of guilt that suddenly flooded her but she managed to remain standing as she grabbed the doorknob and clutched it with all her might. Jason just stood there, watching her through pained eyes and refused to help her. If she was going to have his full forgiveness, she would have to get through this part by herself.

"I suppose saying thank you would be presumptuous of me," she mumbled.

_THWAP!!!_

"Oh my God!" Ginny yelped, jumping back from the door with Jason. They quickly looked out the window and Ginny yanked the door open soon after seeing who it was who had struck the house. "Tonks! Are you okay?!"

The woman had flown straight into the house and shattered her broom, collapsing to the ground in agony. Jason quickly picked her up and carried her into the house while Ginny called for help, which was already in the kitchen after hearing the noise.

"What happened?" Mr. Weasley demanded just as Tonks began to struggle against Jason in an attempt to stand on her own. Wooden splinters tuck in her side and arms and blood covered her body, seeping from a bad gash near her ribs.

"Coming!" she gasped through the pain. "They're…. Coming!"

"Tonks, you're bleeding everywhere!" Mrs. Weasley protested, trying to help the others subdue the woman. "You need to get to St. Mungos!"

"NO!" Tonks bellowed, yanking herself away from them and stumbling into the counter. She grasped the side before she sunk to the ground and struggled to stand back up, sweat, snow, blood and tears dripping down her face. "THEY'RE COMING!"

Bill and Jason tried to grab her again but she refused to be silenced and staggered to the door.

"WEREWOLVES!"

For a moment they all just stared at her, trying to figure out whether she was hysterical from the pain or actually telling the truth. Charlie, Ron and the twins pulled out their wands, leaving the house quickly. Hermione approached Tonks carefully and tried to help the woman as best she could. Alicia and Angelina went to the door to watch what was going on outside while Fleur and Mrs. Wealsey moved things around.

"Tonks, what happened to you?"

The Auror looked up through tortured eyes and shook her head.

"Remus… he didn't mean it… he…"

At that point, Tonks passed out and crumpled to the ground. Hermione rushed to her side while Ginny helped out, pressing conjured towels to the wounds.

"Remus did this…" Ginny looked up at Hermione. "We need to get her to the hospital before-"

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" Harry bellowed just as the windows shattered, producing startled screams from everyone in the house. Dissonant howls resounded from all sides as shards of glass fell over them all. Hermione and Fleur pulled Tonks further into the house as Ginny ran to the door, much to Jason's alarm.

"Ginny, stay in here!" he ordered quickly.

She turned to him and pulled out her wand.

"I'm helping," she snapped, going to open the door. Jason grabbed her hand and yanked her back.

"You're pregnant and I'm not about to let you go out there and kill that baby," he hissed so that only she could hear. More flashes of light caused them to crouch down behind the wall. Someone screamed and they all turned just as Harry shot up the stairs, fear written all over his face.

"MARIEL!"

Mr. Weasley ran after him, trailed quickly by Angelina and Alicia, whose children were upstairs as well. Hermione appeared at the kitchen door.

"We need to get Tonks out of here and the fireplace isn't working," she told them. "I think they're trapping us in." There was a bang upstairs and then the screams of little children, shocking all of them. Ginny and Jason exchanged glances before he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

"Don't do something Malfoy would do," he pleaded before bolting out the door. Ginny raced up the stairs and immediately she was met with a small man with fierce eyes and a dangerous wand.

"_Avad_-"

"_Avada Kedavra!_" Ginny hissed impulsively and fell back just as quickly as the man dropped to the ground. Hermione came up right behind her and gasped, slapping a hand to her mouth to keep from screaming. She then turned to Ginny, who was pulling herself up from the ground while keeping to the wall to avoid touching the corpse.

"He said something Malfoy _wouldn't_ do," Hermione screeched. Ginny ran a hand through her hair before she picked up her wand and straightened up.

"Forgot myself for a moment, sorry," she mumbled, stepping over the dead body and continuing up the stairs without another thought. She had to help.

* * *

"You know, Draco, it's only the Weasleys who hate you now. I hear that the general populous finds you quite tolerable."

It had been an hour since they left Malfoy Manor and after apparating to a certain section of train track that led to Hogsmeade, they had spent the rest of the time drudging through the snow, following Draco as he walked confidently through the darkening forest. For a while they remained silent, just listening intuitively to the sounds around them, but after a while, the others had started to talk.

"The general populous can kiss my arse," Draco responded, causing the others to snicker.

"This is going to be so much fun," Valance muttered loudly. "We're on a death walk to a damned den full of wolves and all that prat can say is 'kiss my arse'."

Rockwell looked up at the sky and grinned.

"I actually find this invigorating," he commented and they all turned to look at him. Noticing, he shrugged. "I haven't been outside since Monday. Shagging Attingwood was great, but to be honest, my legs were getting a bit stiff."

Blaise snorted, holding back the laugh that threatened to spill out of all of their lips.

"We've got too much to live for," he muttered.

Valance shook his head.

"At least Rockwell and I aren't fathers," he countered.

"It's not that bad," Draco remarked as they made their way up a hill. "Sex was great."

Valance and Rockwell looked over at Blaise for confirmation and the man shook his head, moving past them.

"Like hell I'm talking about my wife," he said. "Unlike Malfoy, I actually plan on living."

A smile appeared on their faces as they finally made it to a grove of evergreens. They stood there for a moment, very aware of the fact that one of them was not making it back out. Their minds went to Goyle, who should have been there with them, but instead was being held in a secure chamber under Malfoy Manor until preparations could be made.

These men had spent all their lives protecting each other and to know that one had fallen was unacceptable.

Someone was going to have to suffer.

More were going to have to die.

"Catherine was very particular about killing Emory," Rockwell commented calmly. "She tried to draw a diagram."

Blaise snorted.

"I have some particulars of my own," he whispered, glancing around. "I think we can all use our own imaginations on that one."

Draco and Valance exchanged a glance before Valance disappeared into the grove. The other three waited on the edge, dusting snow off of their cloaks while they waited.

A startled yelp alerted them to Valance's success and they walked through the trees to find the man standing over a small werewolf lying on its side with a huge gash running down its neck to the base of its spine. Blood dripped out of its mouth as it gasped for air and emitted strange sounds that resembled swearing. Its eyes widened in fear when it saw that there were more and it tried to get up, but collapsed back down in the bloodied snow. They all stood over the creature and Draco kneeled down to look it in the eye.

"I suggest you tell me the truth," he whispered evenly. "Or something bad could happen to you."

"Something worse than now," Valance added, keeping his wand on the creature. The werewolf refused to look at him and Draco sighed. Reaching out, he stuck his hand into the wound, his fingers curling around smooth, curved bone.

"ARRGHG!"

The werewolf bucked and writhed but remained on the ground when it saw that Valance's wand was still on it. Draco removed his hand and turned his head to the side.

"Okay, perhaps I wasn't clear. Seeing as you are incapable of speaking, you need to respond to everything I say."

A deep growl resonated from the creature's chest and Rockwell snorted.

"Well, that's not very polite. I've met Draco's mother and she was a lovely person."

Draco glanced up at Rockwell and the man grinned.

"Are you done?" Rockwell nodded and Draco returned to the creature. "Where is the entrance?"

For a moment it seemed as if the werewolf was going to turn around and snag Draco, but its eyes clouded over with defeat and pointed its snout towards a particularly large evergreen. Draco smiled and stood back up.

"Thank you," he said as he moved towards the tree. Rockwell and Blaise moved on with him while Valance pointed his wand at the werewolf.

"This is going to be painful."

An audible crunch resounded throughout the woods when every single bone in the creature's legs shattered into a million pieces. Before the werewolf could release a howl, Valance cast a muting spell on the creature. He followed after the others, tucking his wand into his cloak.

"I never liked killing dogs," he commented. "I find it best to let them heal on their own."

Draco wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"I hate dogs," he replied coldly, finding the entrance they were looking for. "I plan on putting down every single dog I find in there."

Blaise pulled out his wand and went in first.

"It's always good to have goals."

"I had a goal once," Rockwell said. "It was to shag every single Slytherin girl by the time we graduated."

"How'd that work out?" Valance asked.

A smirk appeared on Rockwell's face.

"Attingwood was _really_ good."

Blaise glanced over his shoulder.

"Not the younger one, I hope."

"Rachel…" Rockwell's eyes glazed over for a moment, remembering how much of a mess she had been at the thought of her sister losing Goyle. "She's exceeded her purpose."

Draco rolled his eyes.

"Oh bloody hell, you're starting to sound like me," he growled. "You don't want that to happen. You'll end up suicidal."

Valance snorted.

"I don't know. Dying for the woman you love seems to be all the rage. You. Potter. Perhaps we'll get lucky and those damned Weasleys will decide to go noble and die as well."

They reached the bottom of the narrow staircase and turned the corner to see two large men standing there, waiting. The four men shed their cloaks and tucked their wands into their pockets, falling in step behind the two hulks. Blaise glanced behind him quickly to see two more men bringing up the back.

"Like I said, it's good to have goals."

* * *

Reilly could feel eyes on her but failed to find where they were coming from. She was now sitting in a pile of snow, but she remained just as warm as she had been before the frogs had attacked her. They had long since gone, leaving behind deep cuts on her arms and legs. Around her, she could hear occasional whisperings but ignored them all the same.

Where was she?

The black dress she was wearing was growing uncomfortably tight and she was beginning to shiver. She stood up when the voices stopped and looked down at her pale legs and the lace slippers that covered her feet.

For some reason, she could not stop thinking about Charlie. She knew for a fact that Landon was okay. She had learned very quickly after hearing Ginny's story of her and Draco that parents, no matter how evil, do not kill their children until absolutely necessary. Charlie, unfortunately, was collateral damage in an attempt to get to her. She had heard him screaming after her when the werewolf grabbed her, but beyond that, she did not know.

_Perhaps he made it out with Rayne and the others_, she thought hopefully.

_Or perhaps he's dead…_

Reilly jerked a little and sat back down, surprised by the dark thought. It was uncomfortable to channel those sorts of feelings about life and she hoped it would not happen again.

Pulling her legs up to her chest, she began to whistle a little as she slowly rocked back and forth, forgetting the fact that she was in the snow. Not that the snow bothered her. Her clothes remained dry and she slowly stopped shivering.

"I'm sorry, Reilly."

The young girl whirled around and fell back, startled to see Landon so close to her. His eyes were dark and bloodshot and there were scars running his neck, arms and legs.

"Wha… what happened?" she stammered.

Landon sat down in the snow beside her, avoiding eye contact.

"I'm sorry," he whispered again and she frowned.

"What do you mean-"

"Landon. It would behoove you not to speak to her anymore," Greyback commented as the lights in the small, underground grotto. The snow Reilly was sitting on disappeared and was replaced with the smooth edge of the small rocky plane that began two hundred meters away at a small door. Behind her was a massive body of water that reflected the jagged ceiling looming closely overhead. The water retreated into darkness, filling Reilly with a feeling of dread.

Greyback watched Landon inch towards his friend and his eyes narrowed.

This was not acceptable.

"_Landon!_"

Landon and Reilly turned to the man and the boy froze. Greyback pointed to the spot beside him.

"Here."

Reilly felt Landon trembling beside her and the moment she got a better look at him, she realized why.

He was cradling his side with his arm and she could see the blood seeping through his shirt and trousers. His jaw was clenched tightly and it was obvious that he was in an extraordinary amount of anguish. Reilly attempted to reach out to him, but Greyback released a threatening snarl and Landon was immediately at his side, clutching his side and staring down at the ground. Reilly's eyes moved to the large man and she shuddered.

"You need to be ready," Greyback whispered, pointing to the ceiling. "In ten minutes, that ceiling will disappear and the moonlight will flood in." He placed a hand on Landon's shoulder and Reilly seized, holding her tongue despite the tears that were coming to her eyes. "And very much like the little Gryffindor to die before Malfoy arrives."

"It's a little late for that, Fenrir."

Greyback and Landon turned around to see Malfoy and his cohorts escorted in by four large men. Clearly man was humoring Greyback. Those escorts should have been dead by now.

"Well then, I'll just have to be patient," Greyback said, sizing Malfoy up instantly. "Good things come to those who wait."

**A/N: I thought it was highly appropriate to stop right there and let you all stew. I know I promised more action, but the scene with Jason and Ginny (I thought) was necessary. Things have changed and it needed to be clear that Jason despite remaining in the relationship instead of walking away like most men would, is not okay with what happened, no matter how much he was told. I promise, promise, promise more action. I'll be flipping from the Burrow to the underground, to keep from being stagnant. I hope you'll like it. **

**Dracoginnylover24****:** Oh, the next chapter will be interesting. I'm not particularly sure what I'm going to do with everyone (except Draco of course). We'll see.

**DMLoVeR11:** Oh believe me, I've fallen in love with this Draco. I'm wishing I could have spent more time on Drift than I actually did. I'm trying to draw this out as long as possible. I still haven't definitively said that I would kill him (though in all honesty, when Draco's set on something, he's going to do it and it would be pretty OOC if I just let him live now. I'm not the biggest fan of happy endings (If you've read any of my other work, you'll know that). But I will try to make this ending… acceptable.

**The Darkest wizard****:** I'm not making any promises. You'll have to just wait and see what happens.

**FreezingFire81:** I've considered making another Draco/Ginny story, but I'm deathly afraid that it will mimic Drift in the way I portray Draco and Ginny and I would hate to repeat myself… though, I've done tons of R/Hr stories as well… I don't know… I'd have to come up with something… We'll see…

**MaeSilverpaws1:** Oh, I know this means the end is near, I'll try to make it as good as possible. Thanks!

**AngeliqueBlack:** I cant wait to start writing the next chapter. I thought I would actually get some real action in this chapter, but I got overzealous with the Jason/Ginny part and that ended up taking up a lot more pages than I thought it would. I try not to make too many of my chapters really long, so you'll have to wait until the next chapter for action.

**Next chapter coming up soon. (Hopefully)**


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